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Guess What: Michelle Obama’s Lunch Program Isn’t Kosher for Some Jewish Schools

Mar. 5, 2013 7:09am Sharona Schwartz

Some Jewish Schools Challenging Fed Lunch Mandate over Non Kosher Insects

Romaine lettuce leaves (Photo: Amana Productions inc/Getty Images)

Critics of federal school lunch regulations say they waste food and money, that they infringe on an individual’s choice to eat whatever he or she wants, and that they’re not filling enough. Some students are even boycotting cafeteria food.

Now, ultra-Orthodox Jewish schools are finding it difficult to abide by the newly implemented federal school lunch guidelines, providing another example that this one-size-fits-all policy doesn’t “fit all.” That’s because the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act for which First Lady Michelle Obama vigorously advocated requires the serving of certain foods that some might consider non-kosher.

Ultra-Orthodox community leaders are now appealing to the government, asking their schools be given a pass from serving leafy green vegetables, a required menu option linked to their schools continuing to receive federal funding.

The Jewish newspaper The Forward which examined the issue reports:

Their reason has nothing to do with the taste of spinach, kale, or cabbage. It is because these and other leafy greens might be infested with tiny insects that would render them non-kosher. The groups have asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture to find substitutes that would maintain the nutritional benefits of these vegetables without having ultra-Orthodox children risk eating food that might contradict their dietary laws.

It is an issue that relatively few in the Jewish community pay much attention to, and given the reluctance of most Jewish groups to negotiate with the federal government over funding, due to their reluctance to ask the government for special preferences tailored to any religious group, ultra-Orthodox activists find themselves alone in the battleground.

According to the Chicago Rabbinical Council, lettuce and other leafy greens have to be washed repeatedly to make sure no miniscule, non-kosher insects are inadvertently consumed. Vegetables like broccoli, cabbage and spinach offer ideal crevices in which the pests can hide. Thus, the Council warns the inspection process can be tricky:

The actual insect may not be what you are expecting. They are not flies, roaches or spiders, although these would certainly be a problem as well. Most of them are very small and hard to find due to their size and color, with some being as small as the period at the end of this sentence.

To ensure the greens are bug-free, they have to be washed in a bowl of cold water and a small amount of vegetable wash or non-toxic soap. If after removing the greens insects are found in the water, the process needs to be repeated until no bugs are found. After that, three sample batches need to be checked over a light.

The Kosher Spoon blog posted this photo of the time-consuming process:

The labor-intensive process of debugging lettuce (Photo from Kosher Spoon)

It’s not only vegetables that are posing a problem for the ultra-Orthodox schools. The grain-based food limitation also contradicts Jewish ritual. In this case, the USDA agreed to a compromise. The Forward explains:

One problem stemmed from limiting the amount of grain-based foods served at schools. Administrators noted that for the purpose of saying the blessing over the bread (HaMotzi) and the blessing on nourishment (Birkat Hamazon) [the Jewish Grace after meals], students require a certain amount of bread, usually one slice. But that would take up all the grain allocation for a meal and would not allow other grain-based foods on the lunch plate.

In the meeting held in February with USDA officials, representatives of Agudath Israel and of the Jewish Education Project (formerly known as the Board of Jewish Education of Greater New York) reached an agreement allowing schools to change the grain consumption as long as it does not exceed a calorie limit determined by the new law. “It was a good result,” said Rabbi Martin Schloss, director of day schools and yeshivas at the Jewish Education Project. “We maintained the calorie cap but solved the religious problems.”

Just because a school is serving food doesn’t mean the kids are eating it. NBC reported that Florida’s Lake County school district discovered that most of the fresh fruits and vegetables were being tossed into garbage bins, that is, $75,000 of produce wasted last year. School board members even considered attaching cameras to the trash cans to try to discover what kids don’t like.

School Board member Tod Howard told NBC, “They have to take it, and then it ends up in the trash can. And that’s a waste of taxpayer money, and it’s also not giving students the nutrition that they need.”

Because of the labor-intensive process of the multiple washing requirement, Jewish religious authorities told the USDA their estimate for the cost of purchasing certified, insect-free greens would be four times the price of the uninspected variety. The other possibility would be to hire extra staff to inspect each leaf, a pricey endeavor.

Like the parents in Florida, the Jewish leaders told the USDA that if they’re forced to serve uninspected leafy greens, parents will just tell their kids not to eat it.

Rabbi Abba Cohen, Washington director for the ultra-Orthodox organization Agudath Israel, told The Forward: “We are not in any way opposed to changes in school lunches. We think it is a laudable goal to give children more choices…We just want to make sure that everyone’s needs and objectives can be fulfilled.”

The schools are now working with a nutritionist to look for alternative vegetables that will meet the federal guidelines. The USDA did not answer a query from the Forward to address the insect issue.

If those schools succeed in securing a compromise, it could encourage others to petition over other legitimate complaints.

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Comments (58)

Kevin M
Posted on March 5, 2013 at 12:16pm
“Now, ultra-Orthodox Jewish schools are finding it difficult to abide by the newly implemented federal school lunch guidelines”

They don’t have to. They’re private schools.

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- farmwife
  Posted on March 5, 2013 at 10:01pm
  Just like most private Catholic schools (my children attend), if their are children who receive food stamps receive free school lunches. That is why the Jewish schools receive federal funding.
  
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woodyee
Posted on March 5, 2013 at 11:48am
Why The EF is the federal government involved in ANYTHING related to State Rights?!?

Aside from keeping the GayLord of the Flies in check, we should be pressing our Congressmen to back legislation restoring rights and responsibilities of citizens to their States. It’s what we elect Congressmen to do – represent OUR States, not to promote federal power over them!

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DougHuffman
Posted on March 5, 2013 at 10:45am
Manchelle is The Queen fo Hearts to Humpty Dumpty that taught, “When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.”
“The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.”
“The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master — that’s all.”

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00gabooga
Posted on March 5, 2013 at 10:30am
“Let them eat PORK!” says the queen (of the jungle)

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Fitzzz
Posted on March 5, 2013 at 10:17am
Doesn’t this all sound expensive,
and I bet we can see some new jobs created as
lettuce washers

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barber2
Posted on March 5, 2013 at 10:12am
Guess this means that Obama’s ” no ID required ” base is so stupid they do not even know how to feed their kids properly ?! So now the rich ” who don’t pay their fair share” are now expected to that also ? The dumbing of America…..

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RIGS
Posted on March 5, 2013 at 9:56am
She loves SOUL COOKING…………………………………..

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perry1980
Posted on March 5, 2013 at 9:38am
The Queen says: Do as I say not as I do

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ComingUnglued
Posted on March 5, 2013 at 9:36am
These are the problems that arise when you TAKE GOVERNMENT MONEY. You have to play by their rules, however ridiculous and costly they are.

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battles
Posted on March 5, 2013 at 9:34am
This woman is truly a sycophant. Nosing into everyone’s business.
If you have Firefox AdblockPlus, I suggest you do as I do. Right click on every image of Obamanation, his sycophant wife, Biden the demon possessed, and the rest of Obamanation’s cabinet Nazis and click: Block image…

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- Proverbs17-12NLT
  Posted on March 5, 2013 at 9:37am
  Moochelle is a Fat Ass, Eat as I say Not as I Eat. Now pass the cupcakes.
  
  Report this comment
- Lloyd Drako
  Posted on March 5, 2013 at 10:40am
  Here’s what I suggest. Look up the meaning of “sycophant.”
  
  Report this comment
- LakeHartwellSailor
  Posted on March 5, 2013 at 12:27pm
  syc·o·phant (sk-fnt, sk-)
  n.
  A servile self-seeker who attempts to win favor by flattering influential people.
  
  ——————————————————————————–
  
  [Latin scophanta, informer, slanderer, from Greek skophants, informer, from skon phainein, to show a fig (probably originally said of denouncers of theft or exportation of figs) : skon, fig + phainein, to show; see bh-1 in Indo-European roots.]
  
  ——————————————————————————–
  
  syco·phantic (-fntk), syco·phanti·cal (-t-kl) adj.
  syco·phanti·cal·ly adv.
  
  The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
  
  ——————————————————————————–
  sycophant [ˈsɪkəfənt]
  n
  a person who uses flattery to win favour from individuals wielding influence; toady
  [from Latin sȳcophanta, from Greek sukophantēs, literally: the person showing a fig, apparently referring to the fig sign used in making an accusation, from sukon fig + phainein to show; sense probably developed from ``accuser'' to ``informer, flatterer'']
  sycophancy n
  Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003
  
  Report this comment
- Lloyd Drako
  Posted on March 5, 2013 at 1:03pm
  OK, good to see you’ve done your homework!
  Michelle Obama probably HAS lots of sycophants, but she is not herself one.
  
  Report this comment
JediKnight
Posted on March 5, 2013 at 9:32am
Everyone needs to start practicing civil disobedience in all aspects. Give your kids a lunch. Tell them to throw away the food they’re given. The schools should tell the Federal govt to go stuff it.

Nationwide civil disobedience will force the Federal govt to back down. They can’t throw us all in jail.

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Budrow
Posted on March 5, 2013 at 9:24am
Not only that…
My son who is fifteen and six-foot-two and trim I might add, says he is starving to death on what the school is providing him for a lunchtime meal. And it’s costing me about eighty dollars a month for my kid to be hungry. Michelle should concentrate more on her big-a$$ and less on other peoples business.

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Mia Cav
Posted on March 5, 2013 at 9:07am
Thank you, TZion! I thought there was something fundementally flawed with the statement that Halal and Kosher were the same. Kosher is much older for one thing and I know too many religious people who deny Isalm is even a religion and believe it originated as a political movement and only gained momentum much later. One of those is a Jesuit priest who is a college theology teacher. I found the same website, I just had to restart my computer …

http://www.differencebetween.net/miscellaneous/difference-between-kosher-and-halal/

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RebAkiva
Posted on March 5, 2013 at 8:55am
Sadly a few commentors immediately jumped into anti-semitic positions. No, Jews don’t control the world (if so they forgot to give me my secret club key and let me in on it). No, Kosher for Jews and Halal for Muslims is not the same, though both require slaughtering animals by knife (about the only similarity).

The point here is that Jews who keep kosher DON’T EAT BUGS (bugs = not kosher animal). So, kosher-keeping Jews check veggies for bugs before eating, remove if possible or avoid if infested.

Sadly since we get to pay property taxes for public schools but wish to teach our children our religion in religious schools (meanign we’re paying DOUBLE), most religious schools like to get something out of the government tax til by applying for lunch programs. But if the government program is going to make us each bugs – we’ll opt out.

Oh, and ShamanWorld, if we controlled the world we wouldn’t need to apply for the lunch program. But logic was never part of anti-semitism.

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Exidor
Posted on March 5, 2013 at 8:55am
Get the federal government out of our schools and eating habits.

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- Gonzo
  Posted on March 5, 2013 at 9:00am
  We let them inside of our health care, they control everything now. America had the chance to reverse this last November and we chose slavery. We deserve what we get now.
  
  Report this comment
Master.Debater
Posted on March 5, 2013 at 8:43am
If parents don’t teach their kids to eat healthy, no government mandate is going to do fix that. Expect more of this as government tries to take over the parenting role from parents who cling to their guns and religion.

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termyt
Posted on March 5, 2013 at 8:40am
You know, we already learned all of this once. This is why Ketchup and Catsup are considered vegetables in many places.

It’s not because the schools are lazy or don’t care about nutrition. It’s because kids don’t eat fruits and vegetables. They just throw them away, which is a waste of money and food.

But instead of learning from that, we just re-instituted the same rules as before, only stricter, with the same, predictable results.

Yea government. Good job. Pat yourselves on the back for raising cost and reducing services – which is what you do best.

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ShamanWorld
Posted on March 5, 2013 at 8:11am
People sure cant say Obamas Cabinet(aside from Hagel) isn’t kosher though! Take *Blue Green Algae supplements if you are now afraid of your leafy greens. Or stick with the collard/mustard greens cooked with ham-hocks.

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- tzion
  Posted on March 5, 2013 at 9:14am
  Actually, I can confidently say that most if not all of Obama’s cabinet don’t eat Kosher at all.
  
  Also, you seemed to have missed the point. The government is forcing the school to either serve food that no one will eat or pay a lot more to ensure the food can be eaten by their standards. Algae supplements aren’t going to exempt them in any way.
  
  Report this comment
SpankDaMonkey
Posted on March 5, 2013 at 8:09am
.
To First Lady Michelle Obama “ES” and go away sweetie………..

Twinkies at my house…….

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jackact
Posted on March 5, 2013 at 8:05am
Moochelle, like her husband, is a rabid 3rd world anti-colonialist.
The Mau-Mau’s had no like for whites and Jews.
Neither does anyone in the Obama Regime.
The great Obama lie about tackling racism in the 2008 POTUS campaign was a great big lie because it only included prospective black and Hispanic voters.
I bet Obama doesn’t eat pork.

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PIGSWILLNEVERFLY
Posted on March 5, 2013 at 8:01am
It is only, and ALL about teaching SUBMISSION and “We Control You”.

Wake up People! The illegal defacto U.S. Corporation Needs you to Comply. They are achieving this through EVERY means possible. TV, News, Education, Airports, Banks, Food, Abortion, Birth Control, Taxes, Guns.

It’s People Control. They have gone completely INSANE. They are engineering Crisis just as Rockefeller first said everyone is parroting. They are Schizophrenic and Duplicit. Gvmt claims to want DIVERSITY yet works in every way possible AGAINST Individuals Rights, which are diverse and unalienable=cannot be bought or sold! Since our Rights cannot be bought or sold they are just going to make us the “fools” and TAKE THEM. WAKE THE H3LL UP. If you can’t see what they are doing. Believe it or not, THIS ADMINISTRATION IS Transparent as to what it is doing. 0 has ALWAYS stated Communist/Fascist positions since before he was elected and has put everyone with his same goals in positions of POWER over us and it is never ending. Everyday they take another HUGE step. When he has all the radical judges in power there will be no place let for appeal. We are in huge trouble and I wish the Jewish Community would WAKE UP….You people are being FOOLED AGAIN!

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maggiepie
Posted on March 5, 2013 at 7:39am
In case anyone has forgotten, the role of govt. is to SERVE , DEFEND and PROTECT, not dictate and
control. Let the govt. keep having CONTROL and you might just end up receiving little cubes of
rationed food. WAKE UP people and stop the govt. from invading our personal lives. The govt. can’t
even run itself, but you are letting it run you. I repeat W A K E U P.

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huey6367
Posted on March 5, 2013 at 7:37am
Do our kids need to eat better? Yep. Do they need to get off their a**es and do something? Yep again. Is it the federal governments job to do so? Not at all.

It begins at home.

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Chromo200
Posted on March 5, 2013 at 7:34am
It is admirable that school kids should eat healthier foods according to Michelle Obama. But on the other hand, she and here family get to eat lavish foods on their lavish vacations and lavish WH parties. To my recollection, Michelle is the only FLOTUS that has imposed and forced her way of life on us while all the others first ladies have stayed out of our lives but tried to convince us on their causes.. they gave us the choice.

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- huey6367
  Posted on March 5, 2013 at 7:47am
  Well she has been “put down by the man” since she was a slave so she has the right to tell others what to do.
  
  I’m sure that is her thought pattern. I could prove it if I could see the papers she wrote in college but …
  
  Report this comment
- RJJinGadsden
  Posted on March 5, 2013 at 7:48am
  I do recall Hillary when First Lady was pushing here version of 0bamacare. Thank goodness the ’94 election slapped her down. Little wonder afterwards that she was known for throwing lamps and trinkets at Secret Service agents and other staff.
  
  Report this comment
- Chromo200
  Posted on March 5, 2013 at 10:49am
  RJJINGADSDEN Thanks for the reminder about Hillary, although she wanted Hillary Care, she tried to go through Congress. This ones is doing what she wants and Congress has no B@lls to stand up to her.
  
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biohazard23
Posted on March 5, 2013 at 7:32am
Wait, you think the regime cares about your religious values?? ROFLMAO!!!! Only if you’re a jihadi, kids. Then you will have an entire govt program dedicated to outreach just for you (hello, NASA).

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- RJJinGadsden
  Posted on March 5, 2013 at 7:37am
  BIOHAZARD, Good morning. Bet that this diet meets Halal requirements though.
  
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- RJJinGadsden
  Posted on March 5, 2013 at 8:09am
  SHAMANWORLD, I knew that they would be similar, but I have to admit that I did not know they were the same. I just did a search before responding here and your point is quite correct. Thank you.
  
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- biohazard23
  Posted on March 5, 2013 at 8:16am
  Good morning, RJ! Good morning, Shaman.
  
  Mooch doesn’t give a rat’s arse about any dietary restrictions, only the ones she decrees from on high. After all, isn’t she more of an expert than a registered dietician, an exercise physiologist, a medical researcher, and any physician out there? Look at her junk in the trunk. We all know she’s already quite the expert in the stuff-your-pie-hole area of conspicuous consumption. ;)
  
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- ShamanWorld
  Posted on March 5, 2013 at 8:31am
  @RJ No prob. But do some research on some of the other stuff I’ve posted. Our new Treasury Sec Jack Lew is an Orthodx Jooish man, and they are pretty close to Extremist/Wahabi/Saudi Islam in their treatment of women, but especially in their viewpoints toward non-Jooz(non Jooz are to be lied to, tricked, robbed, manipulated, used, killed)How are these beliefs compatible with an equal society? Answer: They’re not, but when the foxes run the hen houses in real life, they control the media and information as well. Most Americans look at local and global politics like a game of checkers. These kosher and halal guys are playing chess. If you really love freedom, you should help people look into the halal/kosher connection in America.
- tzion
  Posted on March 5, 2013 at 8:55am
  @Shaman
  Lie #1: Jack Lew is Orthodox.
  If this were true then why is he not wearing a yarmulke? Does he only eat kosher? Does he observe even a single holiday?
  Lie #2: “non Jooz are to be lied to, tricked, robbed, manipulated, used, killed”
  Blatant lie with no factual evidence. In fact, there is a Biblical law that prohibits the oppression of non-Jews.
  Lie #3: Kosher and Halal are the same
  No religious Rabbi considers Halal food Kosher solely on the basis that it is Halal.
  http://www.differencebetween.net/miscellaneous/difference-between-kosher-and-halal/
  
  Report this comment

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