Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Smart Pizza lunches!

Mt. Lebanon students are eating Domino’s Pizza at school these days. Here is the deal though: it has to be the Domino’s Smart Slice version that has been formulated to meet the national standards for school lunches and it MUST be served with unlimited fruits/vegetables.

http://www.mtlsd.org/foodservices/middleschool.asp

Here is the meal that Timmy offers:

https://twitter.com/mtlsdsuper/status/588406864599195648

The Super includes Domino's Smart Slice, cookies, and water or milk. Maybe he just doesn’t know the rules about the fruits and veggies.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education anticipated that changing food habits, in light of the obesity epidemic in children, could be tricky and created a "Fact Sheet for Parents" on how to recognize accomplishments without compromising health and nutrition. In our case, our superintendent is just recognizing that the children go to school. So maybe they need to create a “Fact Sheet for Superintendents” on how to work in education without compromising the health and nutrition of the district’s students. Links to the fact sheets are provided on their food and nutrition page.

http://www.pde.state.pa.us/food_nutrition

At least, the superintendent offers milk with the Domino’s Smart Slice. That’s because milk and Domino’s go together, with Domino’s benefitting from a $35 million dollar partnership with the Dairy Checkoff Program between 2009 and 2011.

http://www.eatdrinkpolitics.com/wp-content/uploads/SimonWhitewashedDairyReport.pdf

Why does Domino’s get to serve pizza to students every Wednesday in our middle schools? It might be the same reason Caribou Coffee is available for high school students every day. Nobody really knows. So here’s some background on the Smart Slice:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/11/dining/the-dominos-smart-slice-goes-to-school.html?_r=0

The Colbert Report covered Domino’s creation of the Smart Slice - how did we miss it? Colbert highlighted how much kids must need these name brand food products in our schools and felt he was missing out because the Smart Slice isn’t sold in Domino’s stores - only in schools. Watch below:

http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/videos/445utq/thought-for-food---domino-s-smart-slice---doritos-jacked

The superintendent has decided what to include in his Domino’s Pizza lunches and must feel that fruits or veggies are not necessary. The USDA federal mandate that Mt. Lebanon is required to meet is for others to consider - not him and certainly not for after school fundraisers. And heck, only some kids get the invite to his lunches after all.* So really, why worry? At least, he shares his photos.

* If your kid has celiac disease, he or she is really out of luck. The Mt. Lebanon School District recommends a bagged lunch from home.

12 comments:

  1. That "Domino's Goes To School" article explains why Kona Ice is giving 20% to the PTA, they're not doing it "for the kids.

    Ask them to sell the ice unbranded and see how generous they are.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Herr Dr. Prof. Super Gruppenfuhrer Timmy rules the roost in Lebo, and dictates *you will do as I say and like it !*

    ReplyDelete
  3. The federal govt requires school districts to accommodate children with food allergies and intolerance... including celiac.

    http://www.celiaccentral.org/SiteData/docs/504%20Roadmap/e4630d030351770a8cc47e9280fb19bd/504%20Roadmap.pdf

    Some school districts get it:

    http://americanceliac.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Gluten_Free_Diets-in-Schools.pdf

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yes, I'm aware but I was told by Tazeen Chowdhury that my child should bring a lunch from home.
    Elaine

    ReplyDelete
  5. Just curious.
    Has there ever been one idea, one eureka moment to come out of these Super Pizza Lunches?
    Have teachers changed one part of their daily routine due to suggestions made by the kids?

    ReplyDelete
  6. How much are the kids charged for the slice of pizza? $10

    ReplyDelete
  7. It's all about the money-grubbing. It's what our elected officials do here in Leboland. Between outsourcing every imaginable service in the muni and School district, we ask our kids to peddle mattresses to raise money for extra curricular activities.

    - Zack Morris

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  8. Zack. I'm drawing the line; my music playing children will never sell mattresses.

    Seriously, though - when I was a kid we sold things like hoagies that we made in the school cafeteria on a Saturday. Everyone loved them -- people would actually ask me, "Are you selling hoagies again soon?" Can't anything actually be made by the community anymore?

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  9. 2:11- You know why they're hawking mattresses right? Mattresses have a huge markup and high profit margin. Selling hoagies, pies, raffle tickets, etc. no longer cuts it in this town. They need the cold, hard cash and they need it NOW. Word on the street is that next year, the kids will be selling used Hyundais and term life insurance policies to raise funds for their textbooks.

    -Zack M.

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  10. Domino's uses a brand of flour called Ultragrain which is made by ConAgra. It was developed by food scientists in a lab. Aka, Frankenfood using genetically modified crops. Not too healthy, IMO.

    ReplyDelete
  11. http://www.todaysdietitian.com/newarchives/060109p74.shtml 

    According to the above source ultragrain is not a lab creation.

    ReplyDelete
  12. The term "all natural" means nothing. It has no enforceable legal definition. ConAgra is a huge GMO company. They are not required to list GMO ingredients on their labels and they spend millions of dollars every year on lobbying in Washington to keep it that way.

    ReplyDelete

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