Letters to the editor: School meals unacceptable; spy balloons aren't new
Improve quality of school meals
As concerned parents, we trusted the free school lunch program in California to ensure that our little ones are well-fed during the school day. Unfortunately, we were shocked to discover that our children are being served substandard and often inedible meals.
In a recent survey of our children and others, we found that they were being fed “dirty apples, moldy cheese, disgusting pizza, and not fully cooked meat.” This is not only unacceptable but also poses a risk to our children’s health. It’s no wonder that many children choose to starve rather than eat such disgusting food.
Concerned and outraged, I reached out to the director of child nutrition at Conejo Valley Unified SchoolDistrict to voice my concerns. I was shocked to learn that adults are not allowed to taste or test the food provided to children due to “regulations,” even if we offered to pay or donate. This raises the question of whether anything is being intentionally hidden.
As parents, we must ensure that our children are receiving the nutritious meals they need to thrive in school. We urge all parents to check with their children and advocate for improved transparency in the school lunch program.
It is essential that we hold our schools accountable for providing high-quality, nutritious meals to our children. We cannot allow them to be starved at school due to substandard food. We call on CVUSD to take immediate action to improve the quality of the school meals and to provide transparency and accountability to parents. Our children’s health and well-being depend on it.
Tony Chen, Thousand Oaks
Balloons and mental competence
I’d prefer that politicians from my War Baby generation (1939-45) and older Boomers retire faster, but not primarily for mental ability compared to younger Americans.
In the anxiety over a Chinese spy balloon — and spending some $400,000 a pop just on missiles to bring down other Unidentified Floating (?) Objects — I can remember back to November 2020 and U.S. withdrawal from the Open Skies Treaty.
That treaty was the idea of President Eisenhower and moved along by Republican President and former CIA chief George H. W. Bush. We were a party to it from March 24, 1992, to withdrawal under the Trump administration (the Russians withdrew shortly thereafter). Unannounced spy vehicles weren’t part of the program, but reconnaissance flights were. And unless you panic over violation of boundaries — and there’s a lot of that — nuclear powers keeping track of one another is a good idea.
Richard D. Erlich, Port Hueneme
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Letters: School meals unacceptable; spy balloons aren't new
