We must not be too poor.

There has been much in the news lately about how much we're having to cut back on education. Then we find out that the San Antonio School District is spending $2 million, courtesy of the Department of Agriculture, to track what kids eat at lunch. The students will be photographed as they fill their lunch trays, then the trays will be photographed when they are turned in. This is to find out what the kids are eating, and to try to insure that they are making good choices. I don't know about kids today, but when I was a kid, we did a lot of "I'll trade you my tuna sandwich for your baked beans." I suspect kids are still the same. That alone will skew the results.

I don't know who came up with this system, but just suppose that instead of wasting $2 million on such a silly thing, they served only healthy foods in the lunchroom so that whatever the kids picked would be a healthy choice? When I was in elementary school, the lunchroom ladies put you a glop of this and a glop of that on the tray. . .we didn't have choices. And if I was hungry enough, I ate it. We don't need to spend $2 million to find out what kids will choose . . . oreos or broccoli? Broccoli, of course. Ice cream or baked chicken? Baked chicken, of course. Pizza or a lean meat patty? The lean meat patty, of course. Duh!

Researchers say they hope that "parents will change eating habits at home once they see what their kids are choosing in schools." We can take care of that, too. We need to restrict food stamp purchases. Until we do that, the 47 million people who are sucking the taxpayer dry will continue to be fat, happy, couch potatoes.

"As kids eat, cameras do the math." The Dallas Morning News; May 12, 2011; p. 1A.