Child's homemade lunch allegedly taken away, told it wasn't healthy enough

RAEFORD, N. Carolina - A North Carolina school district is in the national spotlight over a food fight involving a preschooler.

According to the child's grandmother, a state agent took away the girl's homemade lunch and replaced it with school cafeteria chicken nuggets.

The girl later told her family that she only ate three of the nuggets.

When asked to explain, the agent reportedly told the child that her lunch wasn't "nutritious" and "didn't meet USDA guidelines."

So what was in her homemade lunch? A turkey and cheese sandwich, a banana, potato chips and apple juice.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? SHOULD STATE AGENTS BE ALLOWED TO INSPECT STUDENT LUNCHES? TAKE OUR POLL TO THE LEFT.

"It is very healthy. She had her dairy, she had her protein and she had her grains," said the child's grandmother, who requested anonymity.

The student also brought home a bill for the cost of the school lunch she had to eat instead.

School district officials say the agent was conducting a required visit that included checking to see if students had healthy meals.

The Hoke County Assistant Superintendent Bob Barnes agreed that the lunch was healthy, but says it was missing milk, a key part of what is considered to be a healthy meal under state guidelines.

"We are not the lunch bag police.  But if we observe that a child who has brought their lunch is missing one of the key components of the healthy meal, we simply say, if it's milk, here's some milk, you may have it or not," said Barnes.

Barnes believes there was likely a misunderstanding between the child and the staff.

But the child's grandmother says the state should not be inspecting lunches and that the focus should be on academics instead.