Why you should be getting “cold” feet in the hot lunch line

Looking back now…it’s clear that I was spoiled.

I grew up in a household with the good fortune of getting to live with my grandparents (as well as my dad of course).

My grandfather was the typical old-school Italian perfectionist who just couldn’t stomach the thought of me leaving for school every day without some homemade sandwich and brown-bagged healthy, fresh lunch.

Gramps…I know you’re looking down right now and to you I want to say a heartfelt “Thanks” and “Holy crap you saved my life!”

Because after glancing at some of the hot lunch menus just recently, that anyone can pull up on a quick search of google, unfortunately turned up just that…a lot of crappy food choices that frankly are worse than when I was in high school some 15 years ago!

With all we know now about the link between nutrition and mental and physical performance (both on the field and in the classroom) you’d think that this would have improved in recent years.  Ummm….not the case.

Don’t believe me?

Take a look at these two actual menus that I pulled up.  The names of the schools will be withheld  for their protection.  Though the food cops might want to add them to their “MOST WANTED” asap

Sadly, the best day in those entire three weeks was Friday April 2^nd…when there was NO SCHOOL!

The first week alone offered up the following four entrees:

1. Popcorn Chicken on a Roll

2. Quesadillas

3. Corn Dogs

4. Pasta of the Day with a Breadstick (or the Bratwurst sandwich if you would rather have some “healthy” protein!)

Actually, of these…the pasta would seem like a non-offender.  However, take a look at the sauces that are being offered on the pasta and you might be able to start holding swim team practices in the amount of grease that’s in them!

Popcorn chicken?  They’d be better off serving just the popcorn (hold the fried chicken please).

Corn dogs?  It might just be wishful thinking, but I could have sworn that these babies had gone the same route of SPAM (meaning…almost extinct!).  Man was I wrong.  Not only are they not gone, but they are being served on multiple menus and in major metropolitan areas like New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.

But it doesn’t end there.  Philly Cheesesteaks, Calzones, Macaroni and Cheese, and more variations of pizza than there are names that end in vowels in Italy.  In fact, you’d have to wait for the 15^th until you could get anything close to a top protein recommendation in the grilled chicken sandwich.  While coaches and parents may be dreading tax day…at least their young athletes looking to fuel their bodies with “productive” calories had something to finally smile about!

Look, I’m not trying to bash any one school system….because again, there isn’t just one offender.  With the internet these days and all the information that is accessible through it, we can literally see the menus of thousands of high school cafeterias across the country and they all look eerily the same.

My question for you is…is this the BEST we can do?

Do you feel like me that we’re doing a disservice to our young athletes by serving the types of menus that would be more likely found at an 8 year old’s birthday party than on the daily menus of a population in their most significant growth years?  Remember the saying, you are what you eat.  Can we possibly be creating the best athletes by providing them with the worst meal choices?

I think you know how I feel.

So parents, break out those brown bags.  Pack them full of last night’s leftovers on a sandwich (trust me it’s good….think pork tenderloins, chicken breasts, baked chicken cutlets, etc) with a piece of fruit, a low sugar yogurt (throw a portable chillpak in to keep things cool) and you’re good to go.  Again, it doesn’t take much time to prepare, but the extra 5 minutes can go a long way towards keeping your athlete feeling strong for much longer than that…day in and day out!

Stay Strong,

Jeff

The Teen Sports Nutrition Blueprint