THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS FREE LUNCH – NOT A DEAD ISSUE IN 2016


ABOUT THOSE FREE LUNCHES FOR POOR KIDS – SEVEN ARTICLES

EXCERPT: “We are seeing a rise in the number of students who are not eligible for free and reduced price lunches and aren’t able to pay for their meals,” says Pratt-Heavener. In my view as a Progressive Democrat, the needed solution is to raise the income level at which a student would be allowed to receive a free meal. THE COST OF LIVING HAS RISEN AND WAGES HAVE NOT. INSTEAD OF SQUEEZING THE PURSE STRINGS MORE TIGHTLY, LOOSEN THEM A LITTLE.

“In this case the system took charge instead of the common sense and the humanity and we got to fix that,” Loftis said.” Whenever I hear the term “the system” I’m prepared for the worst. These stories below are in the same class. See the two Republican suggestions below.

This is what some of those Tea Partiers (plus one of the Old Guard, Newt Gingrich) want to bring about – a step back to 1938. I think the other case I heard about recently was one of those high fines placed by courts on poor (especially Black) people for broken taillights, etc. A politician suggested they should have to work off the fine. Why don’t the police stop giving out so many tickets for small problems, especially when a pretty white woman would only receive a warning.

Why are the rich so very greedy? Could it be “the love of money,” which Jesus said is the root of all evil? Interesting that Republicans who are so free with tax breaks for wealthy people are so restrictive on those who cannot afford to pay any more out of their meager resources. Come on, fellow citizens, get behind Bernie Sanders and push through a real change in this country which will bring prosperity to those in the lower and middle classes instead of merely the well-to-do.



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-heartbreaking-reason-why-this-boy-asked-his-mom-to-pack-2-lunches/

The heartwarming reason why a N.M. boy asked his mom to pack 2 school lunches
By JENNIFER EARL CBS NEWS
October 17, 2016, 6:30 PM

IMAGE -- screen-shot-2016-10-17-at-5-31-14-pm.png, Josette Duran occasionally sent a note along with her packed school lunches. JOSETTE DURAN/FACEBOOK
Facebook video – Duran’s experiences


For months, Josette Duran has been packing her son an extra lunch to bring to school simply because he asked her to.

The mom didn’t ask questions. She thought he was just hungry, but then she found out the truth.

One day, the mom from Albuquerque, New Mexico, finally asked her son, Dylan: “Are you not getting full, boo?”

The boy spilled the real reason why he needed two bagged lunches: “Mom it’s for this boy. He only eats a fruit cup for lunch. Can you make him lunch too? I don’t think he has lunch money.”

Duran’s heart sank and melted at the same time. She was proud of her son, but she also felt awful for his new friend.

“It’s not for praise or anything; it’s pretty -- pretty intense,” Duran shared the story in a Facebook live video.

When the mother of the little boy found out what the Durans were doing, she contacted the school, hoping to pay Duran back for her kindness.

“She says, ‘I know this isn’t much, but I just got a job, and I know you’ve been feeding my son,’” Duran explained on Facebook.

But Duran wouldn’t accept the mom’s money.

Instead, she continued to pay it forward.

According to CBS affiliate KCCI, the girls’ volleyball team Duran coaches raised more than $400 to pay Duran back for her good deed. But Duran said she couldn’t accept that either, and instead, donated the money to the cafeteria.

“We paid up all the past due accounts for all the kids who need lunch,” Duran said. “So now, nobody in that school owes any money, and now everyone can eat.”

Duran says she was Dylan’s number one fan before, but now she’s even more in awe of her giving son.

“My cup runneth over,” the satisfied mom wrote.



http://q13fox.com/2014/06/11/kent-father-angry-after-son-is-denied-lunch-and-humiliated-at-local-middle-school/

You won’t believe why a student was denied lunch at school
POSTED 5:25 PM, JUNE 11, 2014, BY HANA KIM, UPDATED AT 07:10PM, JUNE 11, 2014

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

News Video -- Kent lunch money debate, KCPQ - Seattle


KENT — A Kent father is furious that his son was humiliated and left hungry at Mill Creek Middle School.

“In front of all his classmates, his lunch was taken from him and thrown in the trash,” father Jimmie Keys said.

A cafeteria worker tossed the food tray in the trash because Keys says his son was short 26 cents on his lunch card.

“With them throwing it in the trash, their whole complaint is that they are not getting the money. So you are still not getting the money, so I just don’t get it,” Keys said.

The Kent School District says they were wrong and they are sorry.

“As a father, as a citizen, as a taxpayer as a person this is not the way we are supposed to be,” spokesperson Chris Loftis said.

With summer break ahead, the district changed its system recently to encourage parents to pay outstanding meal debts. But they failed to notify parents.

“It’s not that we don’t have the money, it’s a fact that there was a lack of communication for us to bring the money to the school,” Keys said.

Employees were told to follow strict guidelines but the district admits the worker went too far.

“In this case the system took charge instead of the common sense and the humanity and we got to fix that,” Loftis said.

To make matters worse, Keys’ son was supposed to get a substitute meal but that never happened.

“The message was either not delivered or not understood and the kid did walk away without food,” Loftis said.

“I was very infuriated my wife and my son had to calm me down from going to the school,” Keys said.

The school directly apologized to Keys and revamped their accounting system so that all parents are notified once their kids lunch card gets to a $1.

“There are 900 kids in the school; it’s hard to believe that it’s happening to just my son,” Keys said.

In the past, the district lost nearly $30,000 in one school year because of unpaid meals. So it’s important they collect as much as they can, but again they say this one case was not handled appropriately.

Administrators talked to the cafeteria worker on how to handle the situation better next time but the father says he does not want her to be fired.

Keys said he is satisfied with the district changing its system.



http://www.takepart.com/article/2014/01/30/school-lunches-snatch-children

Lunch Lady Revolt: No Money, No Food For You
Though fruit does grow on trees, it costs more and lunch ladies are having trouble collecting.

JAN 30, 2014· 2 MIN READ· 145 COMMENTS Clare Leschin-Hoar's stories on seafood and food politics have appeared in Scientific American, Eating Well and elsewhere.

RELATED -- Pink Slime: This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice School Lunches?
RELATED -- GOP Congressman Thinks Poor Kids Should Work for 'Free' School Lunch
RELATED -- 10 School Lunches No One Should Have to Eat


Chaney Zinn knew something was amiss when her first-grader came home sobbing over what happened during school lunch. On Tuesday, just as her son and his class were sitting down to eat at Uintah Elementary School in Salt Lake City, staff started confiscating trays of warm food from students throughout the lunchroom, tossing them in the trash.

The reason for the tearful food fight was that a large number of kids hadn't paid their tabs and the administration ordered a crackdown—a growing problem across the country for students who don't qualify for reduced or free lunch programs but whose parents can't afford to pay up.

“At first it took me a minute to understand what he was even talking about because it just seemed so crazy,” Zinn tells TakePart. “Even the lunch ladies were upset and crying because they didn’t want to take the food away from the kids.”

When word of what was happening spread through the school, Zinn said her son’s teacher raced to the cafeteria and paid for lunch for six of her students with her own money.

But not every child was so lucky. Nearly 40 students had their lunches removed and thrown away in full view of other students and were given a piece of fruit and milk instead, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.

The school district says its child nutrition manager was sent to the school on Monday to investigate the large number of students who had zero or negative balances.

Calls were made to delinquent parents, but by Tuesday, students with negative balances had their hot lunches thrown away.

“But the kids were already sitting down,” says Zinn. “They didn’t stop them when they went through the line and punched in their number that deducts the money from their online account. They let them all go through [the line] and sit down. I think it’s bullying. It’s horrifying what they did to those poor kids.”

Jason Olsen, a Salt Lake City School District spokesman, and school principal Chelsea Malouf didn't respond to requests for interview. A statement was posted on the district’s Facebook page, and on Thursday morning—two days after the lunches were seized—Malouf sent an email to parents saying it was unfortunate and that they were “confident this situation will not be repeated.”

Uintah Elementary School is in an affluent community. According to data collected by the state, just over 10 percent of the students who attend the school qualify for the free or reduced lunch program. Looking at the Salt Lake City School District as a whole, that number soars to nearly 60 percent. Why this elementary school was singled out over unpaid lunch debt is unclear.

At the start of the 2012–2013 school year, the district raised the price of elementary school lunches by 65 cents to $2, although it could have raised the price incrementally over several years instead.

Part of the problem is that school meals have become healthier, including more fruits and vegetables, less meats and grains. The change come at a price. The new nutrition standards mandated by the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act took effect in July 2012.

“Members regularly tell us they’re encountering increased numbers of unpaid meal charges. When that happens, schools get stuck with the deficit,” says Diane Pratt-Heavener, spokesperson for the School Nutrition Association.

Unpaid meal charges are a growing national problem, and schools are asking the USDA to address it as part of its oversight of the nation’s school lunch program.

“We are seeing a rise in the number of students who are not eligible for free and reduced price lunches and aren’t able to pay for their meals,” says Pratt-Heavener.

School districts from Washington to Wisconsin have been struggling. This past fall, Willingboro Township Public Schools in New Jersey sent a letter to families, threatening to dump students’ lunches in the trash if they were delinquent in payments. School food advocate Dana Woldow says it’s one of the strictest policies in the nation.

“No money, no lunch, not even for five-year olds. Period,” says Woldow.

In the case of Uintah Elementary, she says the consequences should be for the parent or guardian of the child.

“Not for a seven-year old. Try withholding the quarterly report card until a parent comes in to clear debt or fill out a meal application. For older students, try withholding student ID card or locker, or not letting them attend school dances until things are resolved,” Woldow says. “But don’t snatch food away from children in front of their friends.”



REPUBLICAN THINKING – TWO ARTICLES

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/18/jack-kingston-school-lunch_n_4467711.html

Rep. Jack Kingston Proposes That Poor Students Sweep Floors In Exchange For Lunch
12/18/2013 03:20 pm ET | Updated Jan 23, 2014
Amanda Terkel, Senior Political Reporter, The Huffington Post


WASHINGTON — Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) wants kids to learn early in life that there’s no such thing as a free lunch. To make sure they absorb that lesson, he’s proposing that low-income children do some manual labor in exchange for their subsidized meals.

On Saturday, Kingston, who is vying to be his party’s nominee in Georgia’s Senate race next year, spoke at a meeting of the Jackson County Republican Party about the federal school lunch program.

Under that program, children from families with incomes at or below 130 percent of the poverty line are eligible for free meals. Students from families with incomes between 130 percent and 185 percent of the poverty level can receive lunches at reduced prices.

But on Saturday, Kingston came out against free lunches, saying that children should have to pay at least a nominal amount or do some work like sweeping cafeteria floors.

“But one of the things I’ve talked to the secretary of agriculture about: Why don’t you have the kids pay a dime, pay a nickel to instill in them that there is, in fact, no such thing as a free lunch? Or maybe sweep the floor of the cafeteria — and yes, I understand that that would be an administrative problem, and I understand that it would probably lose you money. But think what we would gain as a society in getting people — getting the myth out of their head that there is such a thing as a free lunch,” he said.

Watch Kingston’s remarks in the video above.

Besides the “administrative problem,” Kingston’s plan could create significant embarrassment for low-income children, who would be sweeping cafeteria floors while their wealthier peers did normal kid activities. And while the low-income children would supposedly be learning the lesson of hard work, their wealthier peers would simply be getting a free lunch from their parents.

Asked for additional comment on the congressman’s remarks, Kingston spokesman Chris Crawford replied, “It is sad that trying to have a productive conversation about instilling a strong work ethic in the next generation of Americans so quickly devolves into the usual name-calling partisan hysteria. Having worked from a young age himself, Congressman Kingston understands the value of hard work and the important role it plays in shaping young people.”

In November 2011, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) received a significant amount of criticism for proposing a similar idea: firing school janitors at schools in low-income neighborhoods and having kids clean the school instead.

“You say to somebody, you shouldn’t go to work before you’re what, 14, 16 years of age, fine. You’re totally poor. You’re in a school that is failing with a teacher that is failing. I’ve tried for years to have a very simple model,” Gingrich said. “Most of these schools ought to get rid of the unionized janitors, have one master janitor and pay local students to take care of the school. The kids would actually do work, they would have cash, they would have pride in the schools, they’d begin the process of rising.”

Kingston is running against seven other Republicans in the 2014 primary to replace retiring Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.). The winner is expected to face Michelle Nunn, the leading contender on the Democratic side, in the general election.

This story has been updated with comment from Rep. Kingston’s spokesman.

CORRECTION: This story earlier stated incorrectly that Kingston is a member of the House Agriculture Committee.

Also on HuffPost:

Out-Of-Touch Politicians
More: Newt Gingrich Janitors
Jack Kingston 2014 Free Lunch Jack Kingston



http://www.politico.com/story/2013/12/jack-kingston-school-lunch-quote-101377

Pol defends school lunch quote
By Lucy McCalmont
12/20/13 09:37 AM EST


Georgia Rep. Jack Kingston, who suggested children should sweep cafeteria floors to earn meals from the federal school lunch program, is clarifying his comments Friday, saying he meant all children should be instilled with a work ethic.

“This was a discussion about the work ethic in America and I think all kids of all socioeconomic brackets could prosper and learn a lot by having some sort of chores,” Kingston said Friday on CNN’s “New Day.”

The Republican lawmaker added that he never said “poor kids” and acknowledged that “I could have clarified that a lot better.”

Kingston, who is seeking the GOP nomination in Georgia’s Senate race next year, sparked backlash after he made comments Saturday during a meeting for the Jackson County Republican Party, in which, he suggested children “pay a dime, pay a nickel” or work for the subsidized meals by sweeping cafeteria floors.

“I understand that that would be an administrative problem, and I understand that it would probably lose you money. But think what we would gain as a society in getting people — getting the myth out of their head that there is such a thing as a free lunch,” Kingston said at the meeting.

However, while Kingston told CNN it was a larger discussion on work ethic that started with a question about what lessons people learned from jobs they had when they were younger, in the video, he says the program has a 16 percent error rate and is very expensive.

Kingston cited other schools who require community service before graduation or clean tables and said it wasn’t an indictment of low-income families.

“This wasn’t anything in a back room. This wasn’t a policy statement. This was a discussion,” Kingston said, slamming Democrats who he said planted a tracker to film his comments and then fundraise off of them.

“How are we going to change the status quo if we can’t have discussions about sensitive issues, or quasi-sensitive issues, without all the hyperbole that we always get trapped into in modern America,” the congressman said.

Fellow Georgian, Newt Gingrich faced similar criticism in 2011 during his presidential campaign, when he suggested failing schools in low income neighborhoods should “ought to get rid of the unionized janitors, have one master janitor and pay local students to take care of the school.”



http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/history-child-labor

A History of Child Labor

There was a time when many U.S. children toiled in factories for 70 hours a week, until child labor laws went into effect in the 1900s.

In the late 1700's and early 1800's, power-driven machines replaced hand labor for making most manufactured items. Factories began to spring up everywhere, first in England and then in the United States. The factory owners found a new source of labor to run their machines — children. Operating the power-driven machines did not require adult strength, and children could be hired more cheaply than adults. By the mid-1800's, child labor was a major problem.

Children had always worked, especially in farming. But factory work was hard. A child with a factory job might work 12 to 18 hours a day, 6 days a week, to earn a dollar. Many children began working before the age of 7, tending machines in spinning mills or hauling heavy loads. The factories were often damp, dark, and dirty. Some children worked underground, in coal mines. The working children had no time to play or go to school, and little time to rest. They often became ill.

By 1810, about 2 million school-age children were working 50- to 70-hour weeks. Most came from poor families. When parents could not support their children, they sometimes turned them over to a mill or factory owner. One glass factory in Massachusetts was fenced with barbed wire "to keep the young imps inside." These were boys under 12 who carried loads of hot glass all night for a wage of 40 cents to $1.10 per night.

Church and labor groups, teachers, and many other people were outraged by such cruelty. The English writer Charles Dickens helped publicize the evils of child labor with his novel Oliver Twist.

Britain was the first to pass laws regulating child labor. From 1802 to 1878, a series of laws gradually shortened the working hours, improved the conditions, and raised the age at which children could work. Other European countries adopted similar laws.

In the United States it took many years to outlaw child labor. By 1899, 28 states had passed laws regulating child labor. Many efforts were made to pass a national child labor law. The U.S. Congress passed two laws, in 1918 and 1922, but the Supreme Court declared both unconstitutional. In 1924, Congress proposed a constitutional amendment prohibiting child labor, but the states did not ratify it. Then, in 1938, Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act. It fixed minimum ages of 16 for work during school hours, 14 for certain jobs after school, and 18 for dangerous work. Today all the states and the U.S. government have laws regulating child labor. These laws have cured the worst evils of children working in factories.

But some kinds of work are not regulated. Children of migrant workers, for example, have no legal protection. Farmers may legally employ them outside of school hours. The children pick crops in the fields and move from place to place, so they get little schooling.

The Canadian provinces today have child labor laws similar to those in the United States. Most other countries have laws regulating child labor, too. But the laws are not always enforced. Starting in 1999, over 160 countries approved an International Labor Organization (ILO) agreement to end the worst forms of child labor. The ILO is a part of the United Nations and the agreement came into effect in the year 2000. According to the ILO, the number of child laborers around the world has been falling. However, as of 2006, there were still 218 million child laborers worldwide; 126 million of them were engaged in hazardous work. The ILO also runs the world's largest program to help countries eliminate child labor.

Reviewed by Milton Fried
Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America

How to Cite This Article

MLA (Modern Language Association) Style:
"Child Labor." Reviewed by Milton Fried. The New Book of Knowledge. Grolier Online, 2014. Web. 26 June 2014. (use the date you accessed this page)
October 19, 2016



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthy,_Hunger-Free_Kids_Act_of_2010

Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (Pub.L. 111–296) is a federal statute signed into law by President Barack Obama on December 13, 2010. The bill is part of the reauthorization of funding for child nutrition (see the original Child Nutrition Act). The bill funds child nutrition programs and free lunch programs in schools for the next 5 years.[1] In addition, the bill sets new nutrition standards for schools, and allocates $4.5 billion for their implementation.[1] The new nutrition standards have been a point initiative of First Lady Michelle Obama in her fight against childhood obesity as part of her Let's Move! initiative.[2] In FY 2011, federal spending totaled $10.1 billion for the National School Lunch Program.[3]

According to the US Department of Agriculture, for the 2012-13 school year, 21.5 million USA children received a free lunch or reduced-price lunch at school.[4] Across the U.S, the school lunch program varies by state.[5]

Legislative history[edit]

The bill was introduced in the US Senate by Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee.[6] It was later approved by the Senate by unanimous voice vote on August 5, 2010. In the U.S. House of Representatives The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act passed with 247 Democrats and 17 Republicans voting for, and 4 Democrats and 153 Republicans voting against it.[7] President Barack Obama signed the bill into law on December 13, 2010. The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act took effect in 2014.[8] Senators Charles Schumer, (D-NY) and Kirsten Gillibrand, (D-NY) pushed for Greek yogurt, much of which is manufactured in Utica, NY, to be included in the regulations determining acceptable proteins to be served at school.[9]

Provisions[edit]

The Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act allows the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to make significant changes to the school lunch program for the first time in over 30 years.[10] In addition to funding standard child nutrition and school lunch programs, there are several new nutritional standards in the bill. The main aspects are listed below.[1]

New nutrition standards[edit]

Gives USDA the authority to set new standards for food sold in lunches during the regular day, including vending machines.[11]
Authorizes additional funds for the new standards for federal-subsidized school lunches.
Provides resources for schools and communities to utilize local farms and gardens to provide fresh produce.
Provides resources to increase nutritional quality of food provided by USDA
Sets minimal standards for school wellness policies
Limits milk served to nonfat flavored milk or 1 percent white milk[12]
Reduced portion sizes in meals

Increases access[edit]

Increased the number of eligible children for school meal programs by 115,000
Uses census data to determine student need in high-poverty areas, rather than relying on paper applications.[13]
Authorizes USDA to provide meals in more after-school programs in "high-risk" areas
Increases access to drinking water in schools
Program monitoring[edit]
Requires school districts to be audited every 3 years to see if they have met nutrition standards[14]
Requires easier access for students and parents about nutritional facts of meals
Improves recall procedures for school food
Provides training for school lunch providers[15]

Criticism[edit]

A YouTube video, produced by Wallace High School students drew national attention and over 1 million views. The video complained of its student's being "hungry" due to reduced portion sizes relative to those prior to the new law.[16] In response to viewing the video, nutrition specialists explained that before the new standards were implemented, some schools may have been serving a lot of protein to keep their customers happy, "but none of us need as much protein as a lot of us eat". The experts also explained that eating 850 calories at lunch is enough for most high schoolers[17]

In response to the criticism, the USDA issued modified standards which were intended to be more flexible.[18]



I THINK THIS LAW WAS WRITTEN PARTLY TO COMBAT THE OBESITY PROBLEM AMONG KIDS, HOWEVER, THEY ARE GROWING AT THAT AGE AND DO NEED SUFFICIENT PROTEIN, SO MAYBE THE PORTIONS RECOMMENDATIONS SHOULD BE REVISED. LARGER CHILDREN AND VERY ACTIVE KIDS DO NEED MORE CALORIES FOR GOOD HEALTH. THE WORST THING IN OUR DIETS TODAY IS THE COMMON EMPHASIS ON STARCH AND SUGAR. EITHER PROTEIN OR A LARGER QUANTITY OF BULKY VEGETABLE MATTER SUCH AS GREENS WILL PRODUCE A HAPPY FEELING OF FULLNESS, AND THE VEGETABLES ARE, OF COURSE, THE BETTER CHOICE. SOME KIDS DON'T LIKE TO EAT VEGETABLES, BUT THEY MUST LEARN TO LIKE THEM IF THEY ARE TO BE HEALTHY AND NOT BE WHAT I TEND TO THINK OF AS "A PAIN IN THE NECK." NO HOSTESS WANTS A GUEST TO LEAVE ALL THE FOOD, EXCEPT FOR ONE OR TWO THINGS, UNTOUCHED.