Editor,
UNM Child Care Center article published Monday, Sept. 16, failed to mention one very important point about the program: the lunch program is administered under the guidelines of the USDA federal food program. Who would believe that therein lay an unbelievable struggle between parental rights and political correctness?
As an employee of UNM, I was delighted to discover upon my recent move from Los Lunas to Albuquerque that UNM has a child-care center that was available to take my two sons, one of who is a kindergarten.
On Friday, Aug. 23, after my five-year-old's first 'full' day of attendance, I did not fully register the significance of his answer to 'Did you eat everything for lunch, Devon?' - referring to my packed lunch for him. His response at 5:30 p.m., my usual time for picking him up from Monte Vista's after school program, was 'No, mommy.'
On Tuesday, Aug. 26, (after his absence on Monday because of illness), I asked Devon the same question upon picking him up. Again, his response was 'No, mommy.' This time I asked,'Why not?' Whereupon he informed me that they wouldn't let him eat the lunch I packed for him (peanut butter and jelly on whole wheat bread.)
When I confronted the head teacher and the director of operations, I was informed that because the center participates in the USDA federal lunch program, my son could not eat his 'outside' food at the center because that would be considered discriminatory against the other children. To eat foods not available that day to the other children is a form of discrimination according to their directives from the USDA.
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Therefore, because my son did not like any of the food offered to him, and even though his packed lunch was nearby, he was sent to his afternoon kindergarten class having eaten nothing. This was to happen three times during the three weeks my children attended the Center.
The staff at UNM Day Care Center did not call me on any of these occasions. In then discussing the issue with the director, it became clear that the Center considered it perfectly acceptable to send my child off to kindergarten, having not eaten since breakfast (four hours earlier), or in one instance having eaten only graham crackers and pretzels (two foods offered to him that he liked).
I've just pulled my children from the center after an incredible amount of effort and anxiety in locating another qualified center that would include transportation to their elementary school and the right for Devon to eat what I've prepared for him. Can someone explain to me why it is acceptable for my five-year-old child to be sent to kindergarten by UNM without having eaten lunch, knowing he could go 10 hours without food? Exactly how does this action ensure the dignity of other children?
Carol Gislason
UNM administrator
