Oral History Project
Topic Question: Are bought lunches or brought lunches more nutritional for students to be consuming?
Prologue: After narrowing down the endless thoughts about what we should research for our Collaborative Research Project, my teammates, Jackie Bosworth, Michelle Kong, Kaitlin Kelly, and I were eventually able to meet some common grounds for our topic question and got right down to business. Since half of our teammates are education majors and we all had a common interest with kids and our own personal teenage experiences, we decided to revolve our research in the setting of two middle schools. As another common interest, we collaboratively decided to investigate on every kid’s favorite period of the day; lunch. As we reflected on this topic, we questioned whether or not students who brought their lunches versus those who bought their lunches from the cafeteria had healthier or less healthy meals. With this unknown question in mind, our team narrowed our variables to as much of a bare minimum as possible and decided to do a cooperatively assign tasks to one another and then meet up as a group to do finalize edits.
Prologue: After narrowing down the endless thoughts about what we should research for our Collaborative Research Project, my teammates, Jackie Bosworth, Michelle Kong, Kaitlin Kelly, and I were eventually able to meet some common grounds for our topic question and got right down to business. Since half of our teammates are education majors and we all had a common interest with kids and our own personal teenage experiences, we decided to revolve our research in the setting of two middle schools. As another common interest, we collaboratively decided to investigate on every kid’s favorite period of the day; lunch. As we reflected on this topic, we questioned whether or not students who brought their lunches versus those who bought their lunches from the cafeteria had healthier or less healthy meals. With this unknown question in mind, our team narrowed our variables to as much of a bare minimum as possible and decided to do a cooperatively assign tasks to one another and then meet up as a group to do finalize edits.
Interview Number 1
Interviewer: Michelle Kong (Rowan University Student)
Interviewee: Ms Beth Clark (Food Director of Glassboro School Twp)
Interview Video One
Interview Video Two
Interviewee: Ms Beth Clark (Food Director of Glassboro School Twp)
Interview Video One
Interview Video Two
Transcription of both videos displayed above:
On Friday, April 1, 2011, I, Michelle Kong, had the pleasure of interviewing Ms Beth Clark, head director of food service management for all Glassboro public schools. She has had tremendous devotion with her occupation in the food management inc which is why I specifically chose her to interview. To explain, since 1998, Ms Clark has dedicated the last thirteen years of her life in the setting of school cafeterias and knows the ins and outs of everything that goes on. After being given the opportunity of talking to Ms Clark, I was amazed when she told me ten of the past thirteen years in the school system have been devoted to the Glassboro district and for the past four years she has been head director.
Interview Question & Answer Responses
a. Do the kids usually tend to buy the same meals?
For the majority of the time, most students typically purchase the same meals that they are use to eating. Every day, there are five different selections of choices that the students are able to select from. The choices include the following: daily hot entrée, salad bar (prepackaged and/or fresh), peanut butter and jelly, hotdog, or chicken patty. Depending on whether or not the day’s hot meal appeals to them or not, the students either pick the hot entrée or stick to their typical favorites, such as the peanut butter and jelly.
b. Do you consider the meals served in the cafeteria to be healthy?
According to head food director Ms Clark, the lunches served in the cafeteria are indeed considered healthy. As a state guideline, every school must follow the nutritional carb-count procedure in every meal sold. As a result, very entrée will include milk, a fruit, a vegetable, a required amount of protein, and fiber that meets the guidelines of the Recommended Dietary Allowances.
c. What are you doing to improve the health of your students?
In order to make sure the students are eating a balanced intake of nutritional foods, every student purchasing a lunch must take a milk, a fruit, and select a vegetable to go with their meal. At times, the schools are fortunate enough to get fresh fruits (apples, oranges, etc) for the students to select from but many times they offer the canned peaches which always seem to be a typical favorite.
d. Do the children eat all of their lunch?
Depending on the day, time, mood, year, and place, the students’ appetites vary from day to day. Sometimes the individuals will eat the majority of their meal while other times they rather socialize and interact with their friends rather than eat. The consumption of a daily lunch is never quite steady. If they’re hungry, they’ll eat. If they are rowdy and rather talk or fool around, they don’t eat.
e. If not, which part aren’t they eating?
The students typically enjoy the usually meals they are use to eating. They love the common lunches such as grilled cheese with tomato soup, chicken patties, cheese steaks, round pizza, and of course, the all-time favorite chicken nuggets. Likewise, the students typically all love the once-a-month Papa Lugi Day where the school orders pizza from this restaurant and is served at lunch. However, when uncommon foods are put out such as cauliflower with cheese, students tend to sway away from these options because it looks foreign. In this case, the lunch ladies had to trick the students by telling them the cauliflower with cheese was macaroni and cheese in order for them to eat it, and surprisingly like it.
f. How many of the students buy lunch?
In Ms Clark’s districts of schools she tends to, she estimates that approximately 75% of her students purchase lunch on a daily basis. This is looking at a 1300-1400 pupil population that she must cater to five days a week. For a more closer look, the Glassboro Intermediate School has about 360 total kids in the 7th and 8th grade and approximately 240 students buy lunch everyday. This whole determining factor also deals with the students looking at the monthly school menu and telling their parents which days they want to purchase lunch and which days they want to pack.
For the majority of the time, most students typically purchase the same meals that they are use to eating. Every day, there are five different selections of choices that the students are able to select from. The choices include the following: daily hot entrée, salad bar (prepackaged and/or fresh), peanut butter and jelly, hotdog, or chicken patty. Depending on whether or not the day’s hot meal appeals to them or not, the students either pick the hot entrée or stick to their typical favorites, such as the peanut butter and jelly.
b. Do you consider the meals served in the cafeteria to be healthy?
According to head food director Ms Clark, the lunches served in the cafeteria are indeed considered healthy. As a state guideline, every school must follow the nutritional carb-count procedure in every meal sold. As a result, very entrée will include milk, a fruit, a vegetable, a required amount of protein, and fiber that meets the guidelines of the Recommended Dietary Allowances.
c. What are you doing to improve the health of your students?
In order to make sure the students are eating a balanced intake of nutritional foods, every student purchasing a lunch must take a milk, a fruit, and select a vegetable to go with their meal. At times, the schools are fortunate enough to get fresh fruits (apples, oranges, etc) for the students to select from but many times they offer the canned peaches which always seem to be a typical favorite.
d. Do the children eat all of their lunch?
Depending on the day, time, mood, year, and place, the students’ appetites vary from day to day. Sometimes the individuals will eat the majority of their meal while other times they rather socialize and interact with their friends rather than eat. The consumption of a daily lunch is never quite steady. If they’re hungry, they’ll eat. If they are rowdy and rather talk or fool around, they don’t eat.
e. If not, which part aren’t they eating?
The students typically enjoy the usually meals they are use to eating. They love the common lunches such as grilled cheese with tomato soup, chicken patties, cheese steaks, round pizza, and of course, the all-time favorite chicken nuggets. Likewise, the students typically all love the once-a-month Papa Lugi Day where the school orders pizza from this restaurant and is served at lunch. However, when uncommon foods are put out such as cauliflower with cheese, students tend to sway away from these options because it looks foreign. In this case, the lunch ladies had to trick the students by telling them the cauliflower with cheese was macaroni and cheese in order for them to eat it, and surprisingly like it.
f. How many of the students buy lunch?
In Ms Clark’s districts of schools she tends to, she estimates that approximately 75% of her students purchase lunch on a daily basis. This is looking at a 1300-1400 pupil population that she must cater to five days a week. For a more closer look, the Glassboro Intermediate School has about 360 total kids in the 7th and 8th grade and approximately 240 students buy lunch everyday. This whole determining factor also deals with the students looking at the monthly school menu and telling their parents which days they want to purchase lunch and which days they want to pack.
Interview Number 2
Interviewer: Jackie Bosworth (Rowan University Student)
Interviewee: Pamela Reilly (Durand Academy & Community Services)
Interviewee: Pamela Reilly (Durand Academy & Community Services)
The following interview was conducted at Durand Academy and Community Services in Woodbury, NJ. The teacher, Pamela Reilly, was asked several questions related to the childrens brought lunches. My group members and I are trying to see if there is a difference, in relations to health standards, between brought and bought school lunches.
Interview VIdeo
Interview VIdeo
Interview Question & Answer Responses
Q: Do certain children have generally the same lunch every day?
A: Yes, some of the children will only eat the same exact thing every day. One child will only eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with the crust cut off the edges along with his snack selection. This child in particular normally has around 3 or 4 snacks packed in his lunch. Another child packs hot dogs, salad, or soup along with snacks.
Q: What percentage of kids has fruit in their lunch?
A: Out of the 9 children in the classroom, about 2 or 3 of them will pack fruit in their lunches.
Q: If the children don’t have a lunch, what are their options at school?
A: They can have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or a cheese sandwich. Along with their sandwich, they may also choose from a variety of snacks. Examples: cookies, pretzels, cheese balls, special K bars, chips, and fruit roll ups.
Q: Is there a certain reward or punishment for the children not finishing their lunch?
A: No, we do not get into any battles about food. However, we will not make a child a different lunch that we have available because they are claiming that they do not like their own lunch.
Q: Do the teachers make the children eat their lunches in a particular order? Ex: sandwich before snack.
A: Yes. Typically the children will be told to eat their heated lunch or sandwich before their snacks. Some examples of heat up lunches include lunchables, pizza, chicken nuggets, spaghetti, stouffers products, pot-pies, and ramen noodles.
Q: Are there any rules on what the child are or are not allowed to pack in their lunches?
A: There are not any rules because there are no major allergies in the classroom. If there was a child with an allergy (ex: peanut), then the parents may have received a letter asking not to send that product in.
Q: Are the students sharing their lunches?
A: Not really no. Sometimes you may hear a child asking another child or even adult if they want to taste something, but there’s no real trading of foods.
Q: Do the gym teachers explain the health benefits of eating well?
A: Yes, the students have health class once a week. Particularly, we have a Rutgers grant which allows a health nutritionist from the college come out and make new foods for the kids every week. The kids are made to try these snacks in order to expand their food varieties. Also, the children attend gym class over at the YMCA once a week because we do not have a real “gym” at this school. Our gym class is not a typical school-sized gym. The ceiling is low, limiting the children from participating in certain activities. At the YMCA, the children are able to run around and play a variety of sports. Some things that the children do in gym include play on scooters, play sports like lacrosse and basketball, and every day they start out with their warm-ups. Their typical warm-ups include jumping jacks, push-ups, stretching, and sit-ups. The children also take a physical fitness test every year in which they receive a certificate of achievement for. The school does not get involved with weight problems, but they are weighed 2 times a year by the nurse.
Also mentioned by the teacher was the fact that these children do not participate in recess. The school is small and does not have a big enough playground. They are connected to the back of a church which limits the space that they have to run around.
A: Yes, some of the children will only eat the same exact thing every day. One child will only eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with the crust cut off the edges along with his snack selection. This child in particular normally has around 3 or 4 snacks packed in his lunch. Another child packs hot dogs, salad, or soup along with snacks.
Q: What percentage of kids has fruit in their lunch?
A: Out of the 9 children in the classroom, about 2 or 3 of them will pack fruit in their lunches.
Q: If the children don’t have a lunch, what are their options at school?
A: They can have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or a cheese sandwich. Along with their sandwich, they may also choose from a variety of snacks. Examples: cookies, pretzels, cheese balls, special K bars, chips, and fruit roll ups.
Q: Is there a certain reward or punishment for the children not finishing their lunch?
A: No, we do not get into any battles about food. However, we will not make a child a different lunch that we have available because they are claiming that they do not like their own lunch.
Q: Do the teachers make the children eat their lunches in a particular order? Ex: sandwich before snack.
A: Yes. Typically the children will be told to eat their heated lunch or sandwich before their snacks. Some examples of heat up lunches include lunchables, pizza, chicken nuggets, spaghetti, stouffers products, pot-pies, and ramen noodles.
Q: Are there any rules on what the child are or are not allowed to pack in their lunches?
A: There are not any rules because there are no major allergies in the classroom. If there was a child with an allergy (ex: peanut), then the parents may have received a letter asking not to send that product in.
Q: Are the students sharing their lunches?
A: Not really no. Sometimes you may hear a child asking another child or even adult if they want to taste something, but there’s no real trading of foods.
Q: Do the gym teachers explain the health benefits of eating well?
A: Yes, the students have health class once a week. Particularly, we have a Rutgers grant which allows a health nutritionist from the college come out and make new foods for the kids every week. The kids are made to try these snacks in order to expand their food varieties. Also, the children attend gym class over at the YMCA once a week because we do not have a real “gym” at this school. Our gym class is not a typical school-sized gym. The ceiling is low, limiting the children from participating in certain activities. At the YMCA, the children are able to run around and play a variety of sports. Some things that the children do in gym include play on scooters, play sports like lacrosse and basketball, and every day they start out with their warm-ups. Their typical warm-ups include jumping jacks, push-ups, stretching, and sit-ups. The children also take a physical fitness test every year in which they receive a certificate of achievement for. The school does not get involved with weight problems, but they are weighed 2 times a year by the nurse.
Also mentioned by the teacher was the fact that these children do not participate in recess. The school is small and does not have a big enough playground. They are connected to the back of a church which limits the space that they have to run around.
