Nanny State Nonsense

I'm not a big fan of Michelle O, but I can live with her babbling on about what kids should eat and how they should get more exercise. There's certainly no shortage of overweight people in this country, and by highlighting the issue something good might come of it.

But the good should come from individuals, and be a matter of choice. It should not be crammed down our throats by jack-booted thugs government employees.

Food police bust 4 year-old in NC (H/T iOwnTheWorld)

A preschooler at West Hoke Elementary School ate three chicken nuggets for lunch Jan. 30 because a state employee told her the lunch her mother packed was not nutritious.

The girl’s turkey and cheese sandwich, banana, potato chips, and apple juice did not meet U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines, according to the interpretation of the agent who was inspecting all lunch boxes in her More at Four classroom that day.

Inspecting lunch boxes?!? WTF!?! I didn't realize we were living in a police state where kindergarteners' lunch boxes were subject to inspection, and parents forced to pay for an alternate lunch if their kids' lunch didn't met government requirements.

The Division of Child Development and Early Education at the Department of Health and Human Services requires all lunches served in pre-kindergarten programs — including in-home day care centers — to meet USDA guidelines. That means lunches must consist of one serving of meat, one serving of milk, one serving of grain, and two servings of fruit or vegetables, even if the lunches are brought from home.

When home-packed lunches do not include all of the required items, child care providers must supplement them with the missing ones.

The girl’s mother — who said she wishes to remain anonymous to protect her daughter from retaliation — said she received a note from the school stating that students who did not bring a “healthy lunch” would be offered the missing portions, which could result in a fee from the cafeteria, in her case $1.25.

“I don't feel that I should pay for a cafeteria lunch when I provide lunch for her from home,” the mother wrote in a complaint to her state representative, Republican G.L. Pridgen of Robeson County.

“What got me so mad is, number one, don’t tell my kid I’m not packing her lunch box properly,” the girl’s mother told CJ. “I pack her lunchbox according to what she eats. It always consists of a fruit. It never consists of a vegetable. She eats vegetables at home because I have to watch her because she doesn’t really care for vegetables.”

When the girl came home with her lunch untouched, her mother wanted to know what she ate instead. Three chicken nuggets, the girl answered. Everything else on her cafeteria tray went to waste.

Your tax dollars at work.

Call me old-fashioned, but I think parents know better than the government when it comes to their kids eating habits.

When does it stop?