Healthy eating has become a focus in many schools around the world. Recently, a school district in the Durham, Ontario province of Canada implemented a new policy informing students that they would not be allowed to eat part or all of their home-packed lunch should school if their teachers deem it unhealthy. This new policy is part of a new healthy eating initiative that’s left a lot of parents fuming after teachers started confiscating parts of their children’s’ homemade lunches. Last year, a mother of two Ontario district students, Elaina Daoust, was “infuriated” after her son was told by his teacher that he would not be allowed to eat his morning snack.
The snack in question was a piece of prepackaged banana bread, and the child was denied his snack because it had chocolate chips in it. The told her son that he would have to eat grapes instead. According to Elaina: “He came home with a chart (listing healthy snack ideas) and told me he and the teacher talked about it and healthy choices. She also sent a note to me. I was really, really, really mad for several reasons.” She said that her son chose the banana bread because his teachers did not want the kids to bring home-baked goods due to the potential risk to children with food allergies. She also noted that her son was a very picky eater. However, the banana bread was labeled nut-free.
But, so far, since her son started attending his new school, there had not been any issues. Of course, a lot of this incident, and others like it, have to do with the new emphasis school districts in Ontario are putting on healthy eating. It is part of the district’s recent health and physical education curriculum. However, several officials on the school board say that there is a line between teaching children to make healthier food choices and critiquing what they bring to school.
James MacKinnon, a teaching consultant with the school district, says: “There is nowhere in our policy that says our staff is allowed to take food away from a student.” He also notes that while teaching students to make healthier choices is essential, and teachers should never single out a child.
However, so far, over 30 parents within the Ontario district have shared similar stories about their children having their food confiscated by teachers. Foods that said to be banned in the classroom include granola bars, Jell-O, Goldfish, string cheese, raisins, juice boxes, pudding, crackers, chocolate milk, and Sun Chips.
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One mom claims that her daughter, who’s in second grade, had her lunch sent home on more than one occasion because it had pizza, and it was not a designated “pizza day” within her school. They only offered her child a replacement lunch one time. However, on other occasions, the little girl did not eat that day.
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