Mandatory Chicken Nuggets

I'm sure this story is news to no one by now, but I just recently heard about the little 4-year old girl in North Carolina who had her lunchbox confiscated by a preschool inspector and replaced by an "FDA approved" school lunch, of which she only ate 3 chicken nuggets.  The official confiscated the little girl's turkey-and-cheese sandwhich, banana, apple juice, and potato chips, and replaced it with her own "healthier" lunch, which the girl's family was then charged for.

Many of my more conventional-eating friends are slightly up-in-arms about this issue, mainly because of the government intrusion it represents.

But I think I am even more concerned.

What if I don't want to eat what the government wants me to eat?

The government and I agree just fine with the "eat plenty of fruits and veggies" part, the "limit sugar" part, and the "protein is good" part.

But what about the "Plenty of grains, at least half of which should be whole" part?

Or the "Limit 'solid' fats" part?

Or the "Genetically modified soy is just as good of a protein source as a grassfed steak" part?

Are we sitting quietly by while our food choices become the government's responsibility instead of our own?  When I send my kids to school, will their raw milk- and coconut oil-containing smoothies be confiscated because they are not "government approved?  

On the bright side, in honor of this news story, we ate homemade (not very photogenic) chicken nuggets for dinner tonight, along with my first ever batch of homemade, lacto-fermented ketchup (thanks, Sarah at Nourished and Nurtured for the awesome recipe)!

Posted at Fat Tuesday, Fight Back Friday