Why Flavored Apples Should Not be in School Lunches

Bubble gum flavored apples. Sounds bizarre, right? Well, they are now a reality. And they could be coming to your child’s school lunch tray soon.

Crazy Apples is producing “flavored” apples in 3 different varieties: bubble gum, pomegranate grape, and tropical blast. They are marketing themselves as 100% natural, whole apples flavored on the inside.

My first question was WHAT was inside? They don’t answer that question on their site. My second question was HOW do they get the “flavoring” in there? They don’t answer that question either.

So….how exactly is that natural? If it’s natural, it’s not altered. Plain and simple. But the FDA doesn’t define the word “natural” so that means pretty much anything can be defined as natural, including genetically modified fruits and vegetables. I’m not saying this is genetically modified fruit, in fact, I don’t think it is. But in my opinion, any marketer that uses the term “natural” is suspect. If it was natural, why would you need to even imply it is? UNLESS you are trying to market it as “natural.”

It gets worse, the School Nutrition Association has promoted them during their annual conference. The School Nutrition Association, formerly American School Food Service Association, is “a national, nonprofit organization representing 55,000 members who provide high-quality, low-cost meals to students across the country.” They put on a conference every year and have over 800 exhibitors promoting different technologies and food products to decision makers in our school districts. Crazy Apples were highlighted in 2010, and since then have been spotted in grocery stores across the nation.

My concern is that these apples may start to appear in school lunches. And before you start calling me a “nut” because in the past I’ve condemned organizations for feeding soda to children *gasp how could I?* hear me out. Apples taste fine the way they are. They don’t NEED any additional flavoring. In fact, when you add flavoring to natural produce and give them to children you are training their palate to expect that flavor. Right now that happens with chocolate milk. We don’t need children turning their noses up to real apples because they got used to bubble gum flavored apples at school.

Most moms can see where I’m going with this…

I’ve created a petition and need 10,000 signatures to send to send a statement to the USDA Food & Nutrition Services and the School Nutrition Association, who represent the professionals that provide school lunches to our children, to leave apples alone. They are fine the way they are…and less expensive. Please sign this petition and share it with your friends on Facebook.

I’m continuing to be a royal pain in ass when it comes to food, but our nation can’t afford to ignore things like this. The cost is too high.