Chicago School Bans Homemade Lunches

The Little Village Academy public school in Chicago recently banned students from bringing lunches from home to school, as part of an initiative to foster healthy eating habits in young children. Only Those with allergies are permitted to brown bag it, writes the Chicago Tribune.

photo by Monica Eng

The policy was implemented 6 years ago, and it as the discretion of individual principals to implement, not the school district.

"It's about ... the excellent quality food that they are able to serve (in the lunchroom). It's milk versus a Coke," Principal Elsa Carmona said. For students who do not qualify for reduced-priced or free lunches, this rule means a cost of $2.25 per child each day, a cost some parents say exceeds what the spend on a homemade lunch.


While the nutritional value of the food has improved, many kids have stopped eating at lunchtime because they say the food tastes bad. Even though kids buy the meals, many will throw them out. 


According to the Tribune, the federal government pays the school district for every lunch served, while caterers Chartwells-Thompson are paid a fee for every lunch provided.


Students have said that the school underestimates their ability to makes good food choices. "They're afraid that we'll all bring in greasy food instead of healthy food and it won't be as good as what they give us at school," student Yesenia Gutierrez said to the Tribune. "It's really lame. If we could bring in our own lunches, everyone knows what they'd bring. For example, the vegetarians could bring in their own veggie food."

French Burqua Ban Begins in Public Places

A French law banning the wearing of specific Muslim garments by women went into affect Monday, causing a scattering of individual protests across Paris by Muslim women.  Two women were arrested at Notre Dame Cathedral, while one woman from a Paris suburb is quoted as saying she will not remove her veil at a playground., according to CNN.

women wearing the niqab

Only two garments have been banned in public places by the government: a niqab, a full-body garment which leaves an open slit over the eyes, and the burqua, a full-body garment with a mesh covering over the eyes.

The hijab, a scarf wrapped around the head and neck only, leaving the face exposed, are permitted. Hijabs are the most common garment outside of countries like Afghanistan with a strong Taliban influence. The chador, a full-body garment that leaves the face exposed, is also permitted by French law.

If police see a women violating the new regulation, they are required to either fine her €150 or she can take a citizenship course. The law stresses police not to forcibly remove the veil, but rather ask her to remove it and identify herself. If she refuses to do so in public, police must escort her to the station and get her information there.

Husbands are also prohibited from forcing their wives to wear face-covering veils. Any man found to have ordered any woman to wear one faces a fine of €25,000 and can even receive a jail sentence, according to BBC Radio 1.

While fewer than 2,000 women, many of whom are French-born citizens, wear full veils, French officials say the law attempts to promote equality and that the veils segregate society. "The full veil is contrary to the dignity of women," French President Nicolas Sarkozy said in April last year.


However, several issues arise form the ban, including the rate of immigration of people from Muslim nations in North Africa, and the rising presence of Muslims in Europe, have sparked concern among French people. With the largest Muslim population on the continent, France has a palpable undercurrent of animosity towards Muslims in a traditionally Christian society.


Many say the ban is a violation of religious freedom and will only further misunderstanding between demographics.