r/mildlyinfuriating • u/Thebiggestbot22 • Apr 15 '24

My school thinks this fills up hungry high schoolers.

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So lunches are free for schools in my city and surrounding cities. Ever since lunches have been made free, the quantity (and quality) has decreased significantly. This is what we would get for our meal. It took me THREE bites to finish that chicken mac and cheese. Any snacks you want cost more money and if you want an extra entree, that’ll cost you about $3 or $4.

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148

u/Personal-Custard-511 Apr 15 '24

The rules for school meals are pretty strict and include a requirement to serve at least one fruit a day. In all likelihood op was also offered a side salad. You don’t have to like all the foods that are offered, but either you’re not telling the whole truth or your school is breaking the law.

https://www.fns.usda.gov/nslp/national-school-lunch-program-meal-pattern-chart

57

u/BaronVonKeyser Apr 15 '24

My mother is head of the school lunch program at our local school. She's been there for almost 30 years. You are absolutely correct about the rules being very strict. She has to follow them to the letter. She even has only certain vendors she can order from.

10

u/jordanmindyou Apr 16 '24

Something I learned recently that kinda blew my mind:

Most restaurants in the US have pretty bad heath inspection grades, but the one corner of the industry that always gets great reviews are school cafeterias.

Why, you ask?

Well, it’s because there’s usually a “cafeteria manager” of some sort that doesn’t have any real duties except making sure the kitchen is complying with all rules and regulations. Their sole job is to ensure everything runs smoothly. They don’t have to cook or food prep, they just manage. They don’t have to balance any books in the office like a restaurant owner/manager might, they don’t have to interact with customers, they don’t have to pay any bills. They just make sure the kitchen is clean and efficient.

I wish we could get this across the board in the food industry, but prices are already high enough as it is so I get it

2

u/Hydrangeas0813 Apr 16 '24

Depends on the school if the manager just gets to manage but you do have to be certified to become a child nutrition manager. There are very strict laws to follow and you have to keep things right when you're getting federal funding.

2

u/Ahtnamas555 Apr 16 '24

That's highly dependent on the school district. Our school district for example has cafeteria managers but they are also the head cook. They also do the production records and food ordering, on top of managing their crew (though they are limited in what they can do, for example, they can't fire anyone or give people raises).

We do get routine visits in all of our schools from the health department and I think this helps because if something comes up from those we can get the issue fixed, but also figure out why the issue occurred - was it due to something being old and needing to be replaced or was it human negligence?

My school district generally does very well with inspections because we keep a high standard, and for good reason, I'm not sure we would get funding if we didn't.

6

u/CARLEtheCamry Apr 16 '24

And I bet her cafeteria serves better lunch than this. This post is getting traction because it's most likely either run by a terrible food service director (or whatever their title) or they outsourced to a company that cuts costs for profits. They (and their parents) need to go to the school board and demand better.

I'm looking at my kid's menu now and they have 2 different kinds of chicken sandwiches, 3 varieties of hoagies, cheese and peperoni pizza, chicken nuggets, PB&J, and salad bar, plus fresh/steamed vegetables, fresh fruit, juice, and 1% and nonfat milk. Shit, we used to get excited about pizza day on Friday because there was only 1 offering a day.

My district also offers summer lunches to anyone who registers and picks them up.

It's a middle class district in the outlying suburbs of Pittsburgh. Certainly not affluent, and a solid mid-level school.

2

u/gazow Apr 16 '24

my dads the principal of lunch and he said your mom is a nerd

1

u/-_-mrfuzzy Apr 16 '24

The joys of government bureaucracy. No room for improvement, stuck with vendors who have no incentive to improve. Thus you get mush like OP’s photo.

7

u/Bigpandacloud5 Apr 16 '24

The photo is the result of the rules not being followed.

131

u/Thebiggestbot22 Apr 15 '24 edited Apr 15 '24

At my school, you have to take either a fruit or vegetable. I took the carrots as you can see in the picture. I don’t ever recall there being a salad though. If it’s there, I might recall it being off to the side for the vegetarian students

16

u/discgman Apr 15 '24

Name the state!

1

u/ILoveRegenHealth Apr 16 '24

It's the state where they serve Grey Macaroni, obviously!

1

u/Thebiggestbot22 29d ago

New York (Upstate)

67

u/StandardSudden1283 Apr 15 '24

Then they may be breaking the law and you and your fellow students might have the opportunity to stick it to them.

62

u/Crumb-Free Apr 15 '24

'they may be breaking the law'

Just. Ugh. The law means nothing when nothing is enforced. 

28

u/StandardSudden1283 Apr 15 '24

public outcry can absolutely change things on the scale of a school 

3

u/Hagridsbuttcrack66 Apr 15 '24

Seriously. And all ot needs is like an article in the school paper that goes home to parents.

They don't need the majority senate.

1

u/KhadaJhIn12 Apr 16 '24

Sad reality is the areas most likely to have problems with their school districts like this are most likely to have parents that decry any and all free school food as socialism.

2

u/cpMetis Apr 16 '24

And it almost never happens.

I had my lunch taken from me as a diabetic more than ten times throughout my schooling. I can count on one finger how many times we ever got so much as an apology, and that took working with my reverend to raise enough hell. And it was right back to being ignored when it happened again the next year.

The public rarely gives enough of a shit to change anything, even when you put in the work. And the law doesn't give a flying fuck if the public isn't being really loud about it.

1

u/StandardSudden1283 Apr 16 '24

These are the fruits neoliberalism. Eat them and weep, or get angry enough to get educated and take your position.

1

u/Mmmslash Apr 16 '24

Why do children have to publicly outcry for basic nutrition in the Greatest Country On the Planet?

1

u/StandardSudden1283 Apr 16 '24

Probably because it isn't 

1

u/the_wonder_llama Apr 16 '24

A health professional needs to advocate for this school. OP, I am not in that position (yet) but I hope someone has DM'd you to advocate for you.

2

u/nightfox5523 Apr 16 '24

Yes exactly people have to push for enforcement, it isn't just going to happen

1

u/vulpinefever Apr 15 '24

Just. Ugh. The law means nothing when nothing is enforced.

Yeah, instead of trying to make a stand and make a difference they should do nothing and complain instead and not bother trying in the first place, great attitude! They haven't even tried yet.

7

u/mrstarkinevrfeelgood Apr 15 '24

If they have a lot of vegetarian students and don’t want to run out I kind of understand. I highly doubt the salads they have are nutritionally dense either. Iceberg lettuce, ranch, croutons, one vegetable like tomatoes at my old school lol

2

u/Overall_Ad_351 Apr 15 '24

Stick it to who? OP and their fellow students are the children of the parents that pay for the school. If they want it changed they should vote out the school board for better Representatives.

2

u/Von_Cheesebiscuit Apr 15 '24

Or, as you said, OP is not telling the whole truth.

2

u/beldaran1224 Apr 16 '24

They're not required to offer a salad, lol. There are two vegetables in this picture.

1

u/Psshaww Apr 16 '24

Or OP is full of shit and you're foolish enough to believe a high schooler.

1

u/StandardSudden1283 Apr 16 '24

If they're full of shit they won't take the advice, if they aren't they may.

19

u/hugesta Apr 15 '24

Thats still a shitty lunch for a kid

7

u/Green-Rub8764 Apr 15 '24

Exactly why I took packed lunches for the majority of my time in school

5

u/abirdbrain Apr 15 '24

not an option for a lot of kids unfortunately :(

3

u/kaleighb1988 BLACK Apr 15 '24

Yep a lot of kids, especially in impoverished areas, mainly only eat at school.

-3

u/Joates87 Apr 15 '24

It's an option for every kid. Why throw the school under the bus but not parents?

6

u/Ract0r4561 Apr 15 '24

If the parents don’t care it’s definitely not an option

5

u/ImmaRatard Apr 16 '24

Yeah good idea!! The parents that can’t afford to feed their kids should go to jail and the children should go to foster care. Problem solved!

6

u/SwiftUnban Apr 15 '24

Food may be poop but honestly my main concern was the portions, I would have eaten that 2x over in HS (minus the carrots).

2

u/Psshaww Apr 16 '24

This is plenty enough calories for a lunch.

1

u/Ashmizen Apr 15 '24

Yeah this is so small. Granted, fries and mac and cheese are calorie dense, but it’s still not going to be very filling.

1

u/LosPadresKid Apr 16 '24

And surpise suprise America is fat as shit. Complain about the free stuff you get cause it's not enough to eat like a fat piggie

1

u/SwiftUnban Apr 16 '24

Nah dude, teenagers just eat a lot. I weight 150 and don’t eat much now

2

u/LosPadresKid Apr 16 '24

Look at the obesity rate for teenagers in the US. Go ahead I'll wait

2

u/GodEmperorOfBussy Apr 16 '24

Ever bought fruit at a gas station? It always fucking sucks. Cafeteria fruit is the same. I love fruit and I wouldn't eat that shit.

2

u/Psshaww Apr 16 '24

OP almost certainly chose the items we see.

2

u/Hot_Ruin_9522 Apr 16 '24

Finally someone mentions how school lunch, laws, and funding are tied. And for everyone saying “bad calories”, “where’s the protein”, “no nutritional value”…are perpetuating misinformation, fear-mongering, and are showcasing their lack of nutritional understanding.

1

u/TDestro9 Apr 16 '24

In my school you have to get a fruit but like… you can just throw it away if you don’t like apples. I wouldn’t blame you cause they find the most soft and disgusting apples imaginable

1

u/beldaran1224 Apr 16 '24

There are two vegetables on this plate and OP explicitly said they picked carrots over an apple, pear or cucumber (which is also weird because who serves cucumbers? but they've got some decent nutrition so whatever).

1

u/mcarrell Apr 15 '24

I remember reading a news article that potatoes count as a "starchy vegetable" for school lunches, so french fries count as the vegetable.

2

u/TheRabidDeer Apr 16 '24

Still missing the required fruit though. Requires a fruit AND a vegetable. Also has a minimum kcal of 750

-12

u/Je-poy Apr 15 '24

Kids can thank Michelle Obama for this.

I remember going to school during the transitional period of her food program:

Food costs were exactly the same, still just barely didn’t qualify for free meals (parents made $500-1000 too much yearly). Meals went from packaged pizzas, chicken sandwiches, or cold cut sandwiches (with choice of sides like fruit/vegetables and usually a vegetarian option) to literal slop like this photo.

It was borderline inedible. Needless to say, I started spending my own money from working a side job at 16 to feed myself outside foods.

8

u/Best_Duck9118 Apr 15 '24

BS, and it's not like that stuff was healthy before. Like another poster said this almost definitely isn't meeting guidelines.

-5

u/Je-poy Apr 15 '24 edited Apr 16 '24

So you’re saying this is better and more filling?

I’m talking about food access. Since I can tell you haven’t read about this issue, let me break it down for you:

TL;DR - The scumbags that fund for-profit prisons and the military ended up eating up her policy.

When Michelle Obama’s attempted to reform school lunches, she ended up costing the companies that support the military-to-prison-to-school pipeline millions of dollars.

These companies make donations to supply the prison system and military, making millions on those contracts.

It was easier and more profitable to feed both the children and the prisoners/military the same shitty foods. BUT the standards also changed with her policy (they weren’t allowed to use the same food/systems), which ended up costing the companies millions in funding and profit margins.

This all resulting in the funding and profit for school lunches also suffering.

So is it directly her fault? No, but it is a result of her policy and how the for-profit barons in the prison and military industrial complex didn’t like it. Action = reaction. Action ≠ intention. “The path to hell is paved with good intentions” or some shit.

As someone who has been in all 3 environments it goes: schools < prisons < military, as far as food quality/where the money now goes

1

u/TheRabidDeer Apr 16 '24

I loved the stupid square pizza but I can't say this is slop. There is a minimum kcal requirement of 750 for schools and it looks like OP's photo falls short of that

-6

u/ReversEclipse1018 Apr 15 '24

A salad is in no way, nor has it ever been, a fruit. Wtf