Students compared lunches to prison food.

[Deleted]

http://news.yahoo.com/students-lunch...002515719.html

More than 500 students at Theodore Roosevelt High School in Chicago skipped lunch or brown-bagged it last week, protesting the moldy fruit and burnt entrées they’re forced to eat five days a week. But the battle isn’t over yet.

“We are planning a citywide boycott on Thursday, December 17, to show them we mean business. All students should participate,” reads a posting from the civics class working to change the school lunch program not just at Roosevelt, but for all Chicago public schools.

The project, titled “The School Lunch Project: Culinary Denial,” lists several complaints with the Chicago Public School lunch program, including small portions and fat and sodium filled entrée choices. The students have even compared their daily glop to prison food. That might sound a grand exaggeration, but the supplier of the school’s food, Aramark, also services the nearby Cook County prison, according to the students.

Next Thursday, students attending schools across the city are encouraged to bring their own lunch, which may be more difficult for some students than others. As many as 95 percent of Roosevelt High School students qualify for a free or reduced-price hot lunch.

“Lunch time is the time where you eat and enjoy your free time,” the website reads. “It’s supposed to be the place where students get the best healthy lunches like salads, sandwiches, fresh fruits, etc. Instead they give some gross, unhealthy food.”

As the kids say their entrée options are usually limited to pizza or burgers, TeachKind, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ humane education division, offered up its services to the school. PETA offered to help the school develop more nutritious options and to kick it off with a free vegan meal for the entire school.

Tim Meegan, a social studies teacher at Roosevelt who supports the student-led effort, told the Chicago Tribune that the students were excited about PETA’s offer, but that the administration didn’t go for it.

“Accepting this offer would jeopardize our federal nutrition funding,” Emily Bittner, Chicago Public Schools’ communication director, told the Tribune.

If PETA can’t step in to help, the students are hopeful that their continued protests will convince the school to alter the menu to include healthier options with larger portions, or at least allow them to install vending machines or pick up lunch off campus.

I actually went to the High School in question, and the food 15 years ago was ...edible at best, vomit inducing at worst. Your best bet was to get something from the cantina, it wasn't nutritious, and it wasn't exactly good either, but it was better than the slop they plopped on your trays on any given day. Why food is contracted out like this (yeah to save money, etc etc) is beyond me. Healthy choices would be better than this shit, even the Burger King across the street from the school is better than this shit.

[Nynax]

I don't understand why more schools don't at least provide a salad bar (mine did).

I mean it is literally the easiest thing you can do, all you need is a couple tables and the lettuce and shit. The most expensive thing would probably be the salad dressing. There is almost zero extra work for the cafeteria staff, just refill the bins.

[Deleted]

There's a similar problem in Sweden. Prisons spend way more money per meal for prisoners than schools spends on meal per student. Was rare that you could eat at school, complained about it at every meeting we had but they didn't do shit about it.

[Tyrgannus]

My school literally had prison food. Literally. The company that catered to my school also catered to the local prison.

[primalmatter]

Just stop the food program then entitled little twats.

[Chickat]

My schools food was tv dinner worthy. Not good, but not terrible. It was always fresh though. We also did have a salad bar. We had a few things that were super good though. They made Pizza rolls from scratch evry other week, and they were so good. The frozen pizza was pretty high quality as well. Burritos were just packaged ones and baked, but also good. I know that all sounds unhealthy, and it was, but there was always the option of the salad bar, and there was always a fruit, vege, and milk on the tray as well.

[Nelaphim-EX]

My school had lots of options...

You could always get a slice of pizza (Cardboard stuff), a hoagie/sub (two meat, cheese, lettuce, pickle), or whatever the meal of the day was (Burgers, Spaghetti, chicken, PB&J, etc). It came with a container of orange or apple juice and a container of milk (or chocolate milk). All of these were available for the 'free' meals that any student was allowed to get. They also had 'premium' lunches as well. Wraps/pitas, bagels w/toppings, etc. But those you had to pay for.

[I Push Buttons]

I don't understand why more schools don't at least provide a salad bar (mine did).

I mean it is literally the easiest thing you can do, all you need is a couple tables and the lettuce and shit. The most expensive thing would probably be the salad dressing. There is almost zero extra work for the cafeteria staff, just refill the bins.

Because any kid can spit it in.

In my school kids didn't touch any food until it was handed to them from behind protective glass.

Had pretty good food though in my opinion, wide variety too.

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Just stop the food program then entitled little twats.

How is it being entitled if they get shitty food? Unless they are poor they have to pay for it or just not eat all day...

[Adam Jensen]

Just stop the food program then entitled little twats.

Gee, god forbid school children get a decent meal at lunch.

Had Aramark in college, they were shitty. What was funny though was when there were guests at the college, suddenly the food was amazing!

[Garnier Fructis]

Moldy fruit? Jesus.

[Redfingers]

This needs to happen all over the country. Aramark is a terrible company and they have a practical monopoly over the food supply chain in both schools and prisons.

This isn't the first time that somebody has written anything about Aramark, just the first time that someone has done something about it.

[Summer]

There's a similar problem in Sweden. Prisons spend way more money per meal for prisoners than schools spends on meal per student. Was rare that you could eat at school, complained about it at every meeting we had but they didn't do shit about it.

Have seen this comparison here in Finland too but don't think it's a very sensible one to make. Prisoners, aka adults, tend to eat larger portions than children which will directly increase the relative cost of their meals even if the food was the exact same. Also, students eat one meal in school on weekdays and can get better food with more variation at home and on special occasions where the prisoners only get what they are served in prison.

Besides, complaining about food is pretty much what kids do :P I can get arguments like only serving burgers is bad (wtf?) but I don't believe everyone would ever be happy no matter what you served at school.

[Redfingers]

If you read the OP, it states that 95% of the student body at this particular high school qualify for reduced price or free lunches, which means that they're probably poor kids and can't really afford many alternatives.

Qualifying for free lunches = very low income

Probably why the food's so bad since school funding is tied to local taxes usually.

[Nynax]

Gee, god forbid school children get a decent meal at lunch.

Had Aramark in college, they were shitty. What was funny though was when there were guests at the college, suddenly the food was amazing!

lol, idk who catered my college, but I had the same experience.

I mean, my cafeteria couldn't even get rice right, and half the time a burger (which was always there) was the most appetizing thing on the menu besides a salad.

But when it was a visiting day for parents, or the first 3 days of school (for freshmen) suddenly it was bbq ribs, pulled pork sandwiches, "homemade" macaroni!

[Graeham]

Just stop the food program then entitled little twats.

How is wanting to eat healthy food being 'entitled'? It's far, far better for organisations to encourage healthy eating and actively provide opportunities to do just that instead of relying on junk food and questionable quality meals.

[Xeones]

Just stop the food program then entitled little twats.

This better be a joke.


Anyways I went to two high school in my time. One in a small state where the only lunch available was the "school lunch" it was entirely inedible no matter what was served. Even the Pizza was something I wouldn't go near. I refused to eat anything at that school than try and eat that. Then when I went to a bigger state with a much larger school the "school lunch" was still entirely inedible but you had the option of other things. I'd just try to line up first to get a chicken sandwich. If I didn't make it in time I starved.

[Deleted]

Have seen this comparison here in Finland too but don't think it's a very sensible one to make. Prisoners, aka adults, tend to eat larger portions than children which will directly increase the relative cost of their meals even if the food was the exact same.

They spend more per meal for prisoners, 50 swedish crowns per meal for a prisoner and like 8 sek for people in school. The only thing that can cause that, is their food being of relative good quality. I don't even spend that much per meal on my own food.

Also, students eat one meal in school on weekdays and can get better food with more variation at home and on special occasions where the prisoners only get what they are served in prison.

You what? No, this isn't true at all. Not everyone lives in a well-off family where you can eat really good. For some people the meal in school can be the only actual cooked meal they eat in a day.

[Aori]

What is worse is when students pay for these terrible lunches, they aren't free for the vast majority. There is no excuse to serve this garbage.

[Deleted]

Have seen this comparison here in Finland too but don't think it's a very sensible one to make. Prisoners, aka adults, tend to eat larger portions than children which will directly increase the relative cost of their meals even if the food was the exact same. Also, students eat one meal in school on weekdays and can get better food with more variation at home and on special occasions where the prisoners only get what they are served in prison.

Besides, complaining about food is pretty much what kids do :P I can get arguments like only serving burgers is bad (wtf?) but I don't believe everyone would ever be happy no matter what you served at school.

I agree to some part of it, but not entirely.. When I went to school some 10 years ago our lunch was budgeted to 5.40 kr (like $0.6 or something then) a day at the same time that the regular prisoner lunch (not meals for the entire day) was about 10x as expensive and this was for kids at the age of 15-18 years so not exactly small childrens, with that said was the food kind of decent atleast half the days atleast.

I remember one of the dishes, clear vegetable soup that we did an experiment with to check the vissibility deapth of the soup and it was 17cm for a white disk of 2cm diameter... guess it was worth a vissit to the principal to get the attendance of the rest of the personal at the school atleast.

[primalmatter]

This better be a joke.


Anyways I went to two high school in my time. One in a small state where the only lunch available was the "school lunch" it was entirely inedible no matter what was served. Even the Pizza was something I wouldn't go near. I refused to eat anything at that school than try and eat that. Then when I went to a bigger state with a much larger school the "school lunch" was still entirely inedible but you had the option of other things. I'd just try to line up first to get a chicken sandwich. If I didn't make it in time I starved.

Can from a poor family and often didn't have the whole three meal a day thing. School never had a free meal or I would of taken it. Unless the food is actually rotten. Well of they don't want it don't offer it and save some cash.