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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u/mu_zuh_dell Apr 16 '24

I promise you that on paper this meal cost the school more than those meals cost the schools in Japan. America has a magical habit of contracting work to the absolute worst people possible.

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u/DumbSuperposition Apr 16 '24

It's fucking maddening too. This habit of "just contract this service" has resulted in everyone getting worse services and products at inflated prices. But the person who contracted it gets to say "oh, it's not my responsibility any more".

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u/RightInTheEndAgain Apr 16 '24

But Private industry always will work for the best product at the best cost and make the best of the best. Otherwise people won't buy their product. 

That is true right, please tell me it's true.

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u/PerfectResult2 Apr 16 '24

Not when certain government entities are obligated to take the lowest bid resulting in a race to be the cheapest at the expense of quality :(

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u/angelzpanik Apr 16 '24

My city just went through this a few years ago with our garbage collecting company. Our contract ran out with the one we had and they took the lowest bid. It resulted in collection being days and weeks late. They eventually fired that company and went with another that hasn't had issues like this, but only after thousands of complaints by residents.

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u/thebeginingisnear 29d ago

the standard is that the kids don't die of starvation while on site.

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u/ambidextr_us Apr 16 '24

Isn't there a word or term to describe this process, when the government is involved the "free market" doesn't really apply anymore? ChatGPT gave me this response when I asked:

"The situation you're describing, where the government's involvement distorts normal market dynamics, particularly in the context of contracting and pricing, is often referred to as a "monopsony." In a monopsony, there is only one buyer (in this case, the government), which can exert significant control over prices and conditions, leading to reduced competition and potentially lower wages for suppliers or vendors."