Will Ferrell and Michelle Obama do a focus group

A refreshing perspective on controversies over throwing away lunches

I don't have any opinion on the veracity of her claims to why she was fired, but I do very much appreciate this principal's attitude toward what the lunch service is there for.  Particularly good moment when she says that it's about mindset, and that too many people look at these kids as "freeloaders" rather than kids who deserve to be fed.  It's a community problem in loads of communities, and I think she's right that we have to have conversations about how to fix this that aren't only about finances.

I know that the School Nutrition Association has been working hard on so-called "charge policies," and it's time that the USDA and Congress step up and work with them to come up with humane solutions.  Not that I want to give extreme conservatives another opportunity to call poor kids deadbeats, but hopefully the more reasonable voices will carry the day.  We adults need to solve this without involving the kids AT ALL--no hand stamps, no having to carry letters, no trays thrown away, no cheese sandwiches to punish them until the money comes in.  It's not their fault or their responsibility.