Adachi Ward To Take Milk Off School Menus

[Mulboyne]

[floatr][/floatr]Yomiuri: Change on Adachi Ward menu
In a departure from central government dietary standards, the government of Adachi Ward, Tokyo, has decided to draw up its own menus for school lunches at its primary and middle schools from next academic year...The ward government's decision was influenced by the large amount of food that was being wasted: About 300,000 bottles of milk, served as part of a school lunch under the central government standard, as well as many other foods that were not being consumed, were simply being dumped every year...However, the Education, Science and Technology Ministry is critical of the plan, saying the ward government should follow the designated standards. The ministry-designated menu balances calories and various nutritional elements, such as calcium. It also provides a list of preferred foods that contain the necessary elements. According to the list, a child of 8 or 9 is expected to consume 25 items of food as part of his or her school lunch, including 206 grams of milk, 48 grams of rice, 23 grams of wheat, 20 milliliters of bean products and 16 grams of seafood, which should include three grams of small fish. Enforcement regulations of the School Lunch Law stipulate that milk must be served for lunch. The ministry also claims it would never accept a milk-free meal as an official school lunch...The ward government plans to serve warm miso soup instead of milk. Children will receive their calcium from Japanese mustard spinach, small fish and cheese...The local government plans to halve the amount of beans, which many children do not favor, and instead serve types of vegetables to provide required nutritional elements...Responding to the move, a ministry official said: "...Excluding milk is out of the question. We don't think it's appropriate to change other items on the menu either, just because children don't like them"...Nagasaki University Associate Prof. Osamu Nakamura said: "The present concept of school lunches is distorted, because milk must always be served...I suspect the government may be taking advantage of school lunches to deal with the overproduction of milk"...more...

[pbm]

check out the picture on the milk container.

[Adhesive]

check out the picture on the milk container.

Call me a a renegade cop who plays by his own rules, but I don't really see the problem as long as the calcium and other vitamins are found in some other source. If they don't like milk, give them their fucking dried fish eyes or whatever it is the kids are eating now days...as long as they are getting the required nutrients.

[Gestalt]

Japanese milk tastes terrible - I'd take it off the menu too

[TennoChinko]

Given that 80-85% of Japanese children between the ages of 6-10 are lactose intolerant (increases with age - to exceed over 90% in the adult Japanese population) - why wouldn't they consider taking milk off the menu?

[Iraira]

That be calcium I be smellin' in them thar whale bones...........and dead whales tell no tales...probably have no tails also.

[Mulboyne]

[floatl][/floatl]The Sankei reports (Japanese) that a shortage of domestically produced butter has led to a school lunch staple being removed from menus around Japan. "Butter bread" has been favoured by educators because it is easy to prepare and easy to eat but a sharp rise in domestic butter prices has led producers to say that they can no longer guarantee supplies. The shortage stems from efforts to control domestic milk production. Although these controls have now been relaxed, it may take a couple of years before demand can be met. Some prefectures have opted to use imported butter from Holland or substitutes like margarine

[james]

let's take the mercury laden kujira and kurjira-jiru off the menu too since we're tweaking things

[Mulboyne]

More from the Asahi:

Asahi: Where's the butter? Shortage of milk spreads stocks thin

At an elementary school in Osaka Prefecture, the children's favorite butter-flavored buns used to be served once a week. The tasty rolls were dropped from the lunch menu in February. Salad oil has also replaced butter in curries and stews. The changes were not made for nutritional reasons; it was simply because butter was in short supply. Domestically produced butter is scarce at retail stores because of a shortage of raw milk and higher prices of butter imports. A shortage of butter for commercial use began to hit cake shops and restaurants last fall. The problem has now spread to homes. Worse, butter makers are planning to raise retail prices in April, when raw milk prices are set to increase. The move will likely keep butter off more mealtime tables.

A second-tier supermarket chain in Tokyo put up a notice at outlets that states: "Butter stocks may run out due to a drop in production." Butter products arrive two to four times a month at the chain's stores. Packs generally sell out the same day they are put out for sale. The Seijo Ishii supermarket chain in the Tokyo area began to limit per-customer purchases of butter in November. "We are afraid the short supply will continue to the end of the year," an official said. Major supermarket chains managed to secure supplies, but "competition is tough to lay in stocks," a Tokyu Store official said. Ito-Yokado has stopped listing butter in its ads because it isn't sure about future supplies.

Japan's domestic production accounts for about 86 percent of total butter demand. But domestic raw milk production was cut in fiscal 2006 after a glut forced farmers to dispose of not only surplus milk, but also dairy cows. Now, milk is sold mainly for higher-priced drink or cheese production. In fiscal 2006, milk for butter and skim milk production dropped 7 percent from a year earlier. The first 10 months of fiscal 2007 saw a further 4 percent drop. Domestic butter production fell from 85,500 tons in fiscal 2005 to 78,000 tons in fiscal 2006. The drop came just as international prices of butter shot up due to a drought in Australia, higher grain prices and increased consumption in newly developed countries.

Some food makers switched from imports to domestic butter, leading to drops in the volume of butter stock. The stock rose to 19,700 tons in January for the first month-on-month jump in seven months, but it was still at 80 percent of the level a year ago, according to the farm ministry. Raw milk production is expected to climb in fiscal 2008, but how much will go to butter production is unknown. Calpis Co., known for its quality butter, expects fiscal 2008 production "to be about 70 percent of a year ago." Yotsuba Inc. plans to raise prices of its six butter products by 30 yen to 60 yen in April. Other makers are expected to follow suit.