I work part time now. Sometimes I have time to drop my son off at school and pick him up. I sit in the car, and I watch the students. I watch carefully.
There is a kiosk set up by the entry gate to the school. Women are working at the kiosk. Most of the kids walk by the kiosk, with no interest whatsoever in what the workers have to give.
The first time, I saw a chubby boy, likely of Arabic or Middle Eastern heritage, take a box, and throw out things straight into the trash, and proceed to his mother's waiting automobile, eating what appealed to him.
I've seen some kids, including intelligent-looking 'nerdy girls', take the boxes with appreciation and quiet gratitude. Very thoughtful.
I've seen athletes of color throw out the apple right away into the trash.
Once Anthony came home with a box. It had chicken nuggets and fries, and he was happy to have it. He's taken the boxes off and on depending on if he was hungry or not.
Our school doesn't have a cafeteria. The district has a central kitchen. At lunchtime kiosks are staffed. They used to have three but now it's doubled. It used to cost me money, I had to pay into a fund to go on the student card. Perhaps it was four dollars a meal.
Now it's all free.
Ever since the Covid, there has been a program to feed hungry kids. You could go to a distribution school during the home-school hours, and get food for the week, breakfast and lunch. Only for the children. You'd have to drive there.
Now, with hybrid schools, lunch is free for all students. This makes sense so there is no stigma for the ones who need it.
But yesterday, a woman with a tray knocked on the window of the car. If nobody takes the lunches, then there's no money to continue the program in the future. Would we take some? She gave us two.
I took them home with interest.
You know those little cardboard boxes fast food comes in? One had a slice of cheese pizza wrapped in foil. A tiny plastic container like for salsa with a lid, but it contained frozen corn that was still cold. There was a tiny green apple. And a strawberry frozen fruit thing you'd eat with a spoon--strawberries sliced with sugar. That's the only thing Anthony says is good. It comes in strawberry or mixed berry, but the strawberry one is best. I took a bite of the pizza, it was remarkably good.
Also in the box was 'breakfast'. Four ounces of milk and a package no bigger than a crustable (no crust peanut butter and jelly sandwich), with 'mini pancakes'. How is that supposed to help a hungry teen be prepared for school? That was the 'free breakfast'.
The other box had the 'free breakfast' too. And instead of the pizza, a cheeseburger, warm. Also the apple, the strawberry stuff, and surprisingly, eight ounces of chocolate milk. The cheeseburger, although plain, was remarkably good. I took a bite.
I've eaten lots of institutional food. From pre-school where I was forced to eat overcooked asparagus, to elementary school where we could work in the cafeteria if we wanted to take turns, to hospitals across the nation (from interviews). I understand the dietary restrictions and nutritional needs--diabetic, low-sodium, renal, pulmonary, etc.
I am also Italian, and I love and understand and appreciate food.
So Anthony and I had quite the discussion ever since I picked him up. This was terrible, a crime against humanity in the good intentions of wanting to feed the hungry! How could they ruin perfectly good food? Besides what was in it? GMO? hormonal adjuvants? Birth control?
He countered and said cheap is the business model, and besides, he knows some kids all they eat are chicken nuggets.
He had avoided the pizza and burgers like the plague (we don't eat beef). He agreed they 'weren't bad'. He tried them too.
We live in a time where one meal isn't enough for everyone's dietary preferences--there's vegetarian, vegan, fresh, high-fructose-corn-syrup-free, organic, gluten-free, keto/low-carb....just try hosting a dinner, especially with the food allergies and sensitivities.
Anthony won the argument with, 'Mom, it's not like France...'
We've been to museums, where we see the French schoolchildren all eat their lunches in the area where there are tables, little picnic benches. All have forks and knives and are taught how to use them at an early age. Although there are preferences, the dietary and cultural expectations are basically the same, with different courses and more time to enjoy not only the food but the company, in that experience.
So how did we get here? From good-hearted people wanting to help. People who went to bat, made a pitch, and were funded by the district some of the taxpayer money given to them. Everyone wants to help feed the hungry, to feel good, to relieve suffering. Somehow, by the time the children are served, something is lost in the translation. By people who don't understand food. By people who don't try to introduce the children to healthful, healing options, and to enjoy one another's companionship at the table. There aren't even tables at the school, only benches, and now with social distancing...
An option taken by some of the elementary schools Anthony's been to, which were private, was to talk to local restaurants to offer smaller portions at discount prices. Kid's meals. And the kids and parents would order them in the morning. You could get burritos, Italian, Asian...for a fraction of the price of an adult meal. Anthony especially enjoyed the Vietnamese sandwich Banh Mi. There was also a service which would make lunches off campus and deliver them--I forget the name of the company--but their 'healthful and tasty meals' weren't actually very good, and were expensive. I used to brown bag my lunch back in the day, but kids don't want to carry it any more.
Ross and I raise this, in order to show the limits of human solutions to human problems. Simply put, this is why we need Divine Creator. This is why we need supernatural insights, intuition, and Divine Inspiration to guide everyone. If you are using 3D thinking, and only using the five senses, then you are locked in to failure.
This applies to so much more than just food.
So pray.
Pray for solutions to our problems, with the help of the Divine, Infinite, Wisdom of All-That-Is.
The more we invite it, the more it will be welcome to appear.
The time is ripe for it.
clap! clap!
Aloha and Mahalos,
Namaste,
Peace,
Ross and Carla
The couple
