Checking Your Child's Lunch and Snack Purchases Online

Want to know what your child is buying during lunch? You can check online and get a purchase history that looks like this:

Date	Line	Tran#	Quantity	Description	Amount
9/28/2012	1	221	1	SALAD BAR LUNCH	$3.00
9/28/2012	1	221	1	* Account Debit *	($3.00)
10/4/2012	1	226	1	FOODS SHOULD TASTE GOOD	$1.50
10/4/2012	1	226	1	SALAD BAR LUNCH	$3.00
10/4/2012	1	226	1	* Account Debit *	($4.50)
10/15/2012	1	210	1	ELEMENTARY ENTREE OF THE DAY	$3.00
10/15/2012	1	210	1	* Account Debit *	($3.00)
10/23/2012	1	240	1	ELEMENTARY ENTREE OF THE DAY	$3.00
10/23/2012	1	240	1	* Account Debit *	($3.00)
10/24/2012	1	232	1	WRAP OF THE DAY	$3.00
10/24/2012	1	232	1	* Account Debit *	($3.00)
10/26/2012	1	14	1	* Deposit to Meal Account with MealPay *	$15.00
10/26/2012	1	196	1	WRAP OF THE DAY	$3.00
10/26/2012	1	196	1	* Account Debit *	($3.00)

Notice that you can tell which lunch your child bought - hot lunch, salad bar, alternate entree (called a "wrap" even if it is the fruit plate, for example) AND exactly which snacks - like the Food Should Taste Good crackers he or she bought and the cost.

Our system is online here - https://www.mypaymentsplus.com/Default.aspx.

If you haven't used it before, you will need an ID# for your child that is different (and longer) than the pin# used to buy lunch. Just call the food service dept and they will happily and easily get it for you - 277-7090.

What's for Lunch - Wed., 10/31

Applegate Hotdog
Whole Wheat Bun
Oven-Roasted Potato Wedge
More Salad Bar Veggie Sides
Sweet Corn Cobbettes
Strawberry-Yogurt Smoothie (Fat-Free Yogurt)

The hot dogs are from Applegate Farms - so they are far better than many hot dogs but are hot dogs nonetheless. The ingredients are just: beef, water, sea salt, less than 2% of the following: celery juice, sodium lactate (from beets), lactic acid starter culture (not from milk), onion powder, spices, garlic powder, paprika. They have 6g of fat(2.5g saturated) and 380 mg of sodium. They are dairy-, casein- and gluten-free. They promote it as nitrate-free but this NYT article indicates the nitrate issue is tricky - and cites the company saying their bacon has the same level (naturally) of cancer-causing nitrates as conventional brands.  You may also not want your kids growing up thinking hot dogs are a good lunch given the potential link between processed meats and cancer. The bun is whole wheat.

The potatoes should be plain frozen commodity potatoes. Corn is also small, frozen commodity cobs.

The smoothie  will be made with plain yogurt to which we add  honey plus 1% milk and strawberries. The food service department says the strawberries are fresh -- we previously used frozen and have asked about the country of origin. Our fresh strawberries are from California.

UPDATE: School was closed due to the hurricane - this lunch never happened.

The Fruit Plate - Wed's Alternate Lunch

I just got this updated photo of Wed.'s alternate - and very popular - entree the Abraham Lincoln Fruit Plate. It has fruit, whole wheat crackers and a part-skim mozzarella cheese stick. Comes in a festive paper boat.

What's for Lunch - Tues., 10/30

BURRITO BOWL
Brown Rice, Black Beans & Southwest-Style Chicken in a Taco Tub! (Order Entree #1)
Salsa & Romaine & Cheese
OR
Monterey Jack & Black Bean Quesadilla (Order Entree #2)
Celery Sticks ~ Fresh Apple

The burrrito bowl is a new item this year.   The brown rice is a great whole grain. The black beans are canned. The southwest-style chicken is from Tyson and described as diced, cooked "chicken meat." Read more about farm animals raised by industrial giants like Tyson,  antibiotics and hormones.  The bowl comes from Smokewood Foods. The ingredients are described just as "enriched masa flour" and they look like a big rectangular corn chip. They have 5g of fat and no sodium. 

The quesadilla has Monterrey Jack cheese and canned black beans served in a flour tortilla - no whole grains. The tortillas are from Tyson and contain:  Bleached Enriched Wheat Flour (Flour, Malted Barley Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Water, Soybean Oil, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (Contains one or more of the following: Cottonseed Oil, Soybean Oil), Mono- and Diglycerides, Contains 2% or less of the following: Salt, Baking Powder (Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Sodium Bicarbonate, Corn Starch, Monocalcium Phosphate), Fumaric Acid, Sodium Bicarbonate, Dough Conditioner (Wheat Flour, Calcium Sulfate, Sorbic Acid), Preservative (Sodium Propionate and Potassium Sorbate).  Sodium is 380mg. 5g of fat (1 of which is saturated).

Plus fresh celery and apple.

UPDATE: School was closed due to the hurricane - this lunch never happened.

What Our Salad Bar Looks like Now

Here's the salad bar at Sea Cliff:

You're seeing romaine lettuce, celery, carrots, tomatoes, a mix of peppers zucchini, egg, cheese, tuna, bacon and croutons.

There were also fresh fruits in the serving line.

What's for Lunch - Mon., 10/29

Local Beef as Sampled Last Year

LOCAL BEEF Hamburger/Cheeseburger
Whole Wheat Bun
Sweet Potato Puffs
Baby Carrots with Dip
Strawberry - Grape Cup

After much work, discussion and research, our district has discontinued the use of most USDA commodity beef for a variety of health reasons and contracted with a New York State farm to provide beef raised without antibiotics and hormones. It is more expensive and there is less beef on the menu as a result but it is a huge improvement in the quality of our lunches. So, enjoy your hamburger on a whole grain bun.

And then we have The Return of the Tater Tot - a product we thought we had sent packing years ago.   This processed potato product comes from McCain's - a product called Harvest Splendor Bites.  The ingredients would then be: Sweet Potatoes, Vegetable Oil (Contains One Or More Of The Following Oils: Canola, Soybean, Cottonseed, Sunflower, Corn). Contains 2% or less of Corn Starch - Modified, Dehydrated Potatoes, Dextrin, Maltodextrin, Molasses, Salt, Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate Added To Maintain Natural Color, Sugar, Tapioca Starch - Modified, Xanthan Gum.  We do bake them but I don't know yet if they are pre-cooked (fried?) before being frozen and shipped to us.

This counts as our orange vegetable while still teaching children to eat fries with lunch.

Fresh carrots with a full fat organic ranch dressing. Fresh strawberries from California and fresh grapes.

UPDATE: School was closed due to the hurricane - this lunch never happened.

Weekend Reading - and Fun

Reading

School Meals That Rock has posted Part 3 of 3 on why kids may be hungry - with or without the changes we're seeing this year to the school lunch program. After reading this, you may wish to donate to our local food bank.

And the USDA continues to fight back against reports that students are rejecting the new healthier meals. They just sent out a press release on an article printed here showing poll results from California approving of the lunch changes. 

I am feeling relieved that our school district isn't just now getting around to taking incredibly high-fat and high-salt snacks out of vending machines. Some schools are trying to now - apparently afraid that Flamin' Hot Cheetos are highly addictive.  Read the story and don't miss the link to the video where kids rap about their deep and abiding love for the hot Cheetos.

According to Food Safety News, THOUSANDS of schools are going without the required number of inspections for their lunch programs. In New York for the last period reported (2010-2011), 748 schools were not inspected at all.

A new study links BPA and childhood obesity.

The Blog of Bruce Bradley has really gone after Quaker recently - asking (legitimately) do they sell food anymore? 

Downloads

Get a pocket guide to buying local, sustainable fish from the Monterey Bay Aquarium.


Fun

The Civic Association's annual Cider Social is in (our) Central Park from 3-4.

Glenhead's Fire Dept has their open house Sunday from 12-3. It is fun for kids.

See 5,000 hand-carved, lit jack-o-lanterns at Old Westbury House and Gardens. You must buy tickets in advance -- or at least watch the video of the event.

Old Bethpage Restoration Village hosts their Haunted Halloween this weekend.

Clark Botanic Gardens will run their annual Spooky and Not-so-Spooky walks this weekend.

The Queens County Farm Museum has a Children's Fall Festival on Sunday and a haunted house all weekend.

The New York Hall of Science has a big slate of Halloween-themed activities including using their 19' catapult to smash pumpkins. 

What's for Lunch - Fri., 10/26

ARROZ CON POLLO!
Latin-Style Boneless Chicken
Cooked Slowly with with Veggies & Brown Rice
More Salad Bar Veggie Sides
Sweet Corn
Fresh Melon

The chicken is probably the pre-cooked Tyson product.  It is described as "1/2" diced chicken meat" and as "boneless, skinless, and fully cooked." Whole grain rice with vegetables. Corn is probably canned but melon is fresh.

What's for Lunch - Thurs., 10/25

A Previous Turkey Dinner at our School  (served with different sides)

Freshly-Roasted Turkey Breast with Pan Sauce
Whole Grain Dinner Roll
Bliss Potatoes Roasted with Garlic and Herbs
More Salad Bar Veggie Sides
Petite Banana

This may be an ok lunch - but the description of the turkey feels like an overstatement.  The turkey arrives frozen. It is USDA commodity turkey from the Jenny-O Turkey Store - a large supplier of school lunches. The ingredients in the turkey are turkey, water, salt and sodium phosphates. So, it's salty. I do not know how they make the sauce.

Dinner roll is whole grain. These are supposedly frozen, plain potato wedges that we season but I have not seen the label. Plus other fresh fruits and vegetables.

This is Just as Bad

Selling this to kids is just as bad as this.

What's for Lunch - Wed., 10/24

You Don't Have to Eat This

All White Meat Chicken Tenders
Whole Grain Roll
Sweet Potato Puffs
More Salad Bar Veggie Sides
Fresh Apple Slices

Fortunately, on Wednesday, you can get the alternate entree of Abraham Lincoln's Fruit Plate with cheese and whole wheat crackers -- because this is chicken nuggets and tater tots.  Quite a bit of fat and salt.

The chicken is from Tyson. The ingredients are: Chicken breast tenderloins, water, modified food starch, sodium phosphates, salt. PREDUSTED WITH: Enriched wheat flour (enriched with niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), wheat gluten, salt. BATTERED WITH: Water, enriched bleached wheat flour (enriched with niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), modified corn starch, salt, dextrose, spices, garlic powder, xanthan gum, oleoresin paprika and annatto. BREADED WITH: Enriched wheat flour (enriched with niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), salt, spices, garlic powder, extractives of paprika, natural flavors (spice extractives). Breading set in vegetable oil.  The serving size of two pieces - which is what elemntary students get - has 14g of fat and 580mg of sodium.

The roll is whole grain.

And then we have The Return of the Tater Tot - a product we thought we had sent packing years ago.   This processed potato product comes from McCain's - a product called Harvest Splendor Bites.  The ingredients would then be: Sweet Potatoes, Vegetable Oil (Contains One Or More Of The Following Oils: Canola, Soybean, Cottonseed, Sunflower, Corn). Contains 2% or less of Corn Starch - Modified, Dehydrated Potatoes, Dextrin, Maltodextrin, Molasses, Salt, Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate Added To Maintain Natural Color, Sugar, Tapioca Starch - Modified, Xanthan Gum.  We do bake them but I don't know yet if they are pre-cooked (fried?) before being frozen and shipped to us.

This counts as our orange vegetable while still teaching children to eat fries with lunch.

But you can get fresh fruits and vegetables.

Alternate Entree Choice for Wednesdays