Food Choices

[Nihilanthic]

I think its more or less expected from the parent that the school's gonna "break em down" and give them "what they deserve".

Well, at least, thats the only reason why its tolerated by parents shelling out insane amounts of money at least.

But then again, frankly, anyone shelling out 4-5 figures a month to have your kid warehoused, abused, put through programmie clown college and some stupid seminars is probably going to go along with making the kids eat animal feed.

[Anonymous]

Where I was at, the guys got thin, the girls got fat.

[mbnh31782]

Being in a Girls campus at Three Springs, the foodchoices weren't much better.  At my facility, the counselors were expected to cook the meals.  So if your group was struggling or having issues, you still had to deal with getting dinner on the table.

Food choices would be vegetables from a can, fruit from a can, hamburger helper, tuna helper, maybe chicken breasts, presorted salisbury steaks, presorted chicken fingers / fish sticks.

Snacks were never healthy and always were like moonpies or rice krispy treats, or a chocolate chip granola bar from quaker oats.

Breakfast items included: quick grits, yellow american cheese (like the kraft singles), individual boxes/bowls of cereal with only 3/4 cup of cereal in them because the cereal was ALL sugar like frosted flakes or froot loops.

Throughout all this food is one thing no nutritional value, only massive calories to meet the caloric intake required by the state.  Everything had to be portioned out.  A cup of hamburger helper a half cup of peas or greenbeans, a half cup of fruit from a can, and maybe garlic toast --- this was regular white bread with garlic powder in butter lightly painted on the bread and toasted in the oven.

Parents were encouraged to bring in extra food for their kid, only the counselors could ration it out as well as the parents (fairly) had to provide the same amount for each kid in the group.  if a kid acted up we could withold this "extra".  We were not allowed to withold regular meals, but the extra stuff people brought in we could.

[Anonymous]

If indeed this was the case, it's inadequate. Those portions would be appropriate for toddlers but not teens. Doesn't meet the USDA guidelines. I'd be curious to know if they're licensed and what the licensing dept requires.

[Anonymous]

compared to RMA in the 80's you guys seemingly had it pretty good.  Same kind of weekly rotation but grains were pretty much the staple.

Breakfast...Cream of Wheat, Oatmeal, Malto meal, Bran Flakes and scrambled eggs on Wednesdays. Saturday..pancakes or french toast.  Sunday was a good brunch however. Breakfast Bread in addition to whatever else was being served.

Lunch...Bread w/ meat & cheese...no veggies or fruit. I also remember lots of tomato soup and peanut butter...I honestly can't recall if there was jelly to go with it.

Dinner...some sort of pasta dish 5 days a week. MacnCheese, Beef mac, Tuna Mac, Spaghetti, and at least one day of leftovers of all of the above.

Snacks...1 piece fruit after raps/classes in the afternoon...1 piece in the evening...2 pieces and you were "out of agreement".

Rarely were there 2nds on meals and you had make sure that you didn't load your plate as somebody would say something.

We all used to "moo" when we lined up for meals.

If you were diabetic...you were given a few extra rolls (all our bread was baked there) to carry around with you.

other interesting tidbits.

No white sugar...just honey

No white flour...just whole wheat

No Butter...just margarine

Birthday Cakes=Breakfast Bread with cream cheese frosting

Coffee...cowboy style...you pour it through a strainer...1 cup limit...honey for sweetner (you would usually have to rinse the honey out of the bottom of "clean" mugs at lunch)

Milk at breakfast and dinner...only water at lunch. Juice for sunday brunch only.

Everything cooked on wood burning stoves with the exception of the casseroles and bread that were baked in a REAL oven.

Cookies, Moon Pies etc.....only in our wildest dreams.
 :lol:


wow...I always knew we were fed crap...but now that I look at it written down...damn...talk about some serious cost cutting.

[mbnh31782]

yes a typical day there would be this:

Monday:

Dinner:

4 oz of chicken breast
3/4 cup of greenbeans
half cup of fruit from can
1 biscuit (size of your fist)
8 oz of watered down sweet tea


Lunch:

1 cup hamburger helper
3/4 cup peas
1 slice of garlic bread
1/2 cup fruit from can
8 oz of watered down koolaid


Breakfast:

2 scrambled eggs
2 sausage links
1 slice toast with NO butter
4 oz watered down Orange Juice from concentrate
OR
4 oz milk


Morning snack:
Granola bar (the small chocolate chip quaker oat kind)

Evening snack:
1 cup of popcorn from bag.


* there was no snack between lunch and dinner.

**on the days we had cereal they had to use the milk from their cups to eat the cereal. No other drinks were provided.

*** they had to carry waterbottles filled with water only, no ice.
[ This Message was edited by: mbnh31782 on 2006-06-25 20:49 ]

[Oz girl]

I can remember working in a non abusive summer camp and the food was equally vile & nutritionally unsound. (although kids could have as much of it as they wanted as they were not there to be punished) There was also at least a salad bar & fruit available at breakfast. I used to joke with the girls that they should push the other kids out of the way at the salad bar to prevent themselves from getting scurvy! The kids also said it was what they pretty much ate at school each day. I remember being horrified but figuring that if this was what kids were used to their parents must be ok with it.  

I am astonished that kids who are @ TBS because of behavioural issues would be fed sugary cereal. Wouldnt making them hyper only increase the chances of agressive behavour?

Why is the govt requirement for calorie intake as opposed to minimum amounts of fruit & veg or enough foods from all of the groups? Surely this would actually feed the kids better. Also is it really any  cheaper to feed kids junk food? i would have thought that buying frit and veg in bulk would make it around the same price as the crap they are fed. Do the parents even know what the kids are eating?

I noticed a lot of the WWASPS pictures of TB have boys that look like concentration camp victims but the girls look ok physically.

PS I am probably going to regret I asked this but what the hell is hamburger helper?

[Anonymous]

OK,but the FEW kids that had real alcohol/drug problems used to show up looking haggared with bags under their eyes,but after a couple of weeks,their faces started to look kind of "puffy".
We ate sandwiches,chips,the most HORRID beanie weenies (you would think it would be difficult to fuck up beenie weenies,but somehow they managed),a kind of thin stew,all served on plastic disposable plates,and washed down with a kind of fake orange kool ade.Our host families gave us the breakfast and sometimes a snack at night,BUT NEVER a real meal.

[mbnh31782]

While alot of the food served at summer camp is deemed "kid friendly" the portions are not controlled as strictly as they were at a facility such as Three Springs.  The kid friendly menu included things like pizza, chicken fingers, ravioli, spaghetti, Etc.  

I've worked at summer camps and one thing was prevalant against the institutionalised facilities: there was always enough food and there was always "seconds" available.  There was also a salad bar for those kids who didnt want the particular meal, or wanted a salad to go with their meal.  NO kid went hungry.  Snacks were something like apples, or oranges or the occasional granola bar.  There was always milk or something with a snack for a drink.  

The only time cereal was served was on the last day of camp and the kids practically had to eat then get on the bus.  Cereal was limited to 2 individually sized bowls per person, and they had a variety of cereals ranging from healthy raisin bran and cheerios to frosted flakes and froot loops.

The difference between an institution like Three Springs and Summer camps is this:  Summer camps last 1 week to 4 weeks depending on the camp, there are day camps available with or without food for parents who want to control what their kids eat.  The parent has the right to pack their kid a lunch or let them eat in the mess hall.  In sleep away camp, the food has to be kid friendly or many of the kids will not eat it.  In an institution, kids are sent there for 1-2 YEARS not weeks.  Over a period of time, the food choice actually harms the kid instead of helps meet the caloric intake needed for the kid.  Additionally, the food intake by kids in an institution is standardized and generalized by using portion control.  The result, many kids are hungry and there are no seconds or alternate options such as a salad bar available.

[Deborah]

What's been described is a very high sodium diet. Could explain the 'puffy' eyes/faces.
Sandwich meat, canned meats, veggies, and soups are packed with salt.
And again, the portions are not adequate for a teen.
Was there a dietician on staff?
The thinking is, too much food might distract them from working the program. Much easier to bait and punish when a child is hungry, or underfed. They tend to be more compliant.

[mbnh31782]

at three springs there was a dietician on staff, however i didnt know what credentials she had.  at the summer camps, they just had people work the kitchens i dont think there was any sort of dietician on staff. but then it was only a week or two of food they had to provide for the kids, not 2 yrs worth

[Anonymous]

At CEDU in the early 90's there was absolutely NO dietician on staff. There was a staff member who was a former chiropractor, so they had him setting up my food agreements. Can you imagine? They thought that because he had some sort of medical background that he was qualified to deal with the food issues of an anorexic.

[Anonymous]

On 2006-06-26 11:36:00, Deborah wrote:

"

What's been described is a very high sodium diet. Could explain the 'puffy' eyes/faces.

Sandwich meat, canned meats, veggies, and soups are packed with salt.

And again, the portions are not adequate for a teen.

Was there a dietician on staff?

The thinking is, too much food might distract them from working the program. Much easier to bait and punish when a child is hungry, or underfed. They tend to be more compliant."

"Diatician"?HaHaHa.
Volunteer parents prepared the "food".

[Anonymous]

I dont really remember the food being an issue at Desisto. One weird thing though- everyone got real real real fat.

There was this one girl D-na. She was real athletic, into sports. Maybe a year later I saw her in public talking about how happy she was with program. She had this real deadened expression on her face and she weighed at least 300 lbs

[Anonymous]

On 2006-06-26 14:44:00, Anonymous wrote:

"At CEDU in the early 90's there was absolutely NO dietician on staff. There was a staff member who was a former chiropractor, so they had him setting up my food agreements. Can you imagine? They thought that because he had some sort of medical background that he was qualified to deal with the food issues of an anorexic. "

what cedu were you at sweetheart? Someone dear to me was there....