It's a clear case of the nanny state gone wild in the age of Obama.
The Carolina News Journal reported Tuesday that a 4-year-old was forced to eat chicken nuggets after an inspector deemed her homemade lunch not nutritious.
Sara Burrows wrote:
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.
School officials not only sent the girl's lunch home, they included a note informing the mother she would be charged $1.25.
According to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, lunches served in pre-kindergarten classes must meet USDA guidelines, Burrows explains.
"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," she wrote.
Lunches that do not meet state guidelines are supplemented by the school.
The girl's mother - who wished to remain anonymous - was not pleased with the Raeford, NC, school's actions.
“I don't feel that I should pay for a cafeteria lunch when I provide lunch for her from home,”she wrote state Rep. G.L. Pridgen, a Republican from Robeson County.
“What got me so mad is, number one, don’t tell my kid I’m not packing her lunch box properly,” she told the Journal.
“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.”
But what, exactly, was wrong with the lunch the girl brought from home?
Jani Kozlowski, the fiscal and statutory policy manager for the Division of Child Development, told the Journal the meal should've met state standards.
“With a turkey sandwich, that covers your protein, your grain, and if it had cheese on it, that’s the dairy,”she said. There was apparently no problem with the potato chips or the fact that it did not include a vegetable.
Burrows added:
There are no clear restrictions about what additional items — like potato chips — can be included in preschoolers’ lunch boxes.
“If a parent sends their child with a Coke and a Twinkie, the child care provider is going to need to provide a balanced lunch for the child,” Kozlowski said.
Ultimately, the child care provider can’t take the Coke and Twinkie away from the child, but Kozlowski said she “would think the Pre-K provider would talk with the parent about that not being a healthy choice for their child.”
Burrows posted the state regulation:
“Sites must provide breakfast and/or snacks and lunch meeting USDA requirements during the regular school day. The partial/full cost of meals may be charged when families do not qualify for free/reduced price meals.
“When children bring their own food for meals and snacks to the center, if the food does not meet the specified nutritional requirements, the center must provide additional food necessary to meet those requirements.”
Kozloski said the parents should not have been charged for the food given to the girl, and suggested the school had a "technical assistance need."
Jackie Samuels, principal of West Hoke Elementary School, said he was unaware of parents being charged for cafeteria food.
“I know they eat in the cafeteria. Whether they pay or not, they eat in the cafeteria,” he said.
A blog post at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution called the incident, "an overzealous response by food police checking pre-school lunch trays."
"While I share concerns about childhood obesity, I still remain uncertain of the right role for schools. This story clearly exemplifies the wrong role," wrote Maureen Downey.
A post at Fox Insider notes the "North Carolina representative called the school which apologized, because in fact the lunch did meet all the USDA requirements."
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