Dinty Moore isn't what it used to be

The local paper had an article about school lunches one day last week, and it boggled my brain on a few levels.

Paxton Keeley children don’t mind trying new things, but Sullivan [chief cook at Paxton Keely Elementary] said they let her know when something doesn’t appeal to them.

The beef stew, for instance, didn’t go over well at all.

"The kids did not know what it was," Sullivan said. "They had no concept of stew. I tried to explain it was a thick soup, but they just couldn’t grasp it."

The school no longer serves beef stew.

But fish sticks are back on the menu after children rallied for them in a schoolwide survey a couple of years ago.

How can kids not know what beef stew is?!?!?! Obviously, Dinty Moore needs to up their advertising budget, because you bet your boots they know what Campbell's chicken noodle soup and Spaghettios are.

I don't know which is worse: that the kids don't recognize beef stew, or that it was taken off the menu because of that. Or that, based on the photo with the article, meals at the elementary school are served on styrofoam trays with plastic forks. Yes, I realize, if the kids won't eat it, there's no use cooking it just to toss it later, but the kids should be encouraged to try new things. If they never see anything new, they aren't going to expand their repertoire, so to speak. The pasta bar and spicy chicken sandwiches mentioned in the article were also new at some point.

And this is a somewhat environmentally-progressive town - the mayor suggested a grass roof for the new city hall expansion - so the styrofoam really surprised me.

I'd boggle more, but the Burrito (who likes BBQ and soft tacos, as well as ham & beans) is awake. So we're going to go sort through his clothes and weed out the too-small things.