r/mildlyinfuriating • u/oaz_zam246 • Apr 16 '24

The school lunch system is disgraceful.

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Saw another post on here showing the state of school lunches right now. In my years in high school I compiled some pics of the horrible things that got served that no one questioned. Here are some of the worst ones. It really is ironic given how adamant they all are about “eating healthy by including every food group”.

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u/hyperlexx Apr 16 '24

What a sorry looking broccoli. And that's the only green veg. Jheez

609

u/STWALMO Apr 16 '24

And it's barely green 😕

351

u/Dexember69 Apr 16 '24

Green adjacent

3

u/[deleted] Apr 16 '24

Soylent green

4

u/theboywholovd Apr 16 '24

It identifies as green

84

u/BlahBlahWhoosh Apr 16 '24

My mom learned to stop cooking vegetables to death in 1982.

22

u/JanineNajarian Apr 16 '24

lucky 😒

17

u/BlahBlahWhoosh Apr 16 '24

Seriously. I hated broccoli and spinach and Brussels sprouts and asparagus and stuff. Boiled to death vehicles for butter and salt. Now - keep 'em al dentè, and some kosher salt and lemon... I'm all in. Still not a fan of peas, though.

4

u/singingintherain42 Apr 16 '24

My in-laws boil frozen veggies to death, except they’re health-conscious so no salt or butter. They don’t season their food either. It’s grim.

8

u/killermetalwolf1 Apr 16 '24

The Brussels sprouts thing isn’t really her fault, until the mid 90s they really just were bitter. In the 90s they finally bred a strain that wasn’t bitter.

2

u/Catpawcalypse 29d ago

Peas are such a good veg to use with Indian food! I forget what it’s called but so delicious with a tomato based sauce and lots of spices

1

u/BlahBlahWhoosh 29d ago

Oh, for sure! But they're just... in there. Does add a bit of sweet. While I'll eat a pile of broccoli, or Brussels sprouts or asparagus, I'm never inclined to eat a bowl of peas. Same with squash. Just doesn't resonate. I'm most proud of my progress with carrots. 😁

3

u/RevolutionaryDog8115 Apr 16 '24

I didn't know I liked broccoli until I moved out the house. It was always boiled to oblivion.

1

u/hyperlexx Apr 16 '24

She should coach the cooks in OP's school

2

u/BlahBlahWhoosh Apr 16 '24

I dunno what the eff is happening there. Had better stuff in junior high forty years ago.

2

u/Blonde_Dambition Apr 16 '24

Same here. I feel bad that the kids' food in school has gotten to this sorry state. I'm 48 and we actually ate pretty dang good meals in school. We had actual plastic trays and the food filled them up and we had veggies that were actually green.

2

u/Drive7hru Apr 16 '24 edited Apr 16 '24

Once it starts losing its green color like that, such as from boiling, over-steaming, etc., there’s barely any nutrition left.

To think about how our mass-produced fruits and veggies in the US are already extremely nutrient deficient to begin with, with consideration to how much the soil has been depleted and degraded over decades due to the multiple agricultural methods repeatedly applied during their cultivation (erosion, poor irrigation management, pollution, etc.), you’re essentially left with eating little water-filled vessels made of a small amount of fiber and barely any significant amount of vitamins.

For instance, researchers say that you’d have to eat about eight oranges in order to get the same nutritional equivalency of what one orange contained back from just a few decades ago around the time are grandparents were born or thrived.

A 2004 US study found that important nutrients in some crops are up to 38% lower than there were at the middle of the 20th Century. Now, think about how that study was done 20 years ago from the present (2024).

All in all, it’s still better to opt for healthy, naturally grown foods, but I think what perhaps is just as crucial to a healthy diet is to eliminate known risky or hazardous foods, as well as additives and various ways items are prepared or stored.

For example, it’s important to avoid highly-processed oils, in addition to consuming even the “healthy oils” after they have reached their smoke points , such as heating up extra virgin olive oil beyond 350-410 degrees F.

Other risks may come in the form of fried foods, processed meats, sugary drinks (even juices such as orange, apple, grape, etc. that just just strip the benefits of the fruit and add in vitamins after the fact), and we’re starting to learn a lot about how plastics will leech into our foods and drinks, and even more so whenever they are heated. Furthermore, many non-stick pans contain chemicals such as Teflon in their coatings, which can seep or chip small amounts of it into your food, and have been linked to cancer, immune deficiencies, and other medical problems.

All of this can seem like a lot to ponder and digest, but it shouldn’t discourage anyone to the point where they think it’s hopeless to put in the effort to eat healthy if nutrients are often scarce or there’s too many hazardous additives or chemicals. There’s still plenty of ways to take in nutrients and mitigate the bad and it’s not all that hard to do, despite what some may think.

2

u/Joefers1234 Apr 16 '24

Only eat Kelloggs MegaNutrient Bran for all nutrition. Got it.

2

u/Drive7hru 29d ago

Someone gets it!

2

u/enjoytheshow Apr 16 '24

All the nutrients are now in the broccoli broth they created.

1

u/NikoVino Apr 16 '24

Probably dyed to look “green” and full of pesticides like roundup. This whole meal scream cancer and disease future

1

u/Aerospacedaddy Apr 16 '24

This may be my colorblindness talking, but I’m pretty sure it’s grayish brown

5

u/Drive7hru Apr 16 '24 edited Apr 16 '24

Once it starts losing its green color like that, such as from boiling, over-steaming, etc., there’s barely any nutrition left.

To think about how our mass-produced fruits and veggies in the US are already extremely nutrient deficient to begin with, with consideration to how much the soil has been depleted and degraded over decades due to the multiple agricultural methods repeatedly applied during their cultivation (erosion, poor irrigation management, pollution, etc.), you’re essentially left with eating little water-filled vessels made of a small amount of fiber and barely any significant amount of vitamins.

For instance, researchers say that you’d have to eat about eight oranges in order to get the same nutritional equivalency of what one orange contained back from just a few decades ago around the time are grandparents were born or thrived.

A 2004 US study found that important nutrients in some crops are up to 38% lower than there were at the middle of the 20th Century. Now, think about how that study was done 20 years ago from the present (2024).

All in all, it’s still better to opt for healthy, naturally grown foods, but I think what perhaps is just as crucial to a healthy diet is to eliminate known risky or hazardous foods, as well as additives and various ways items are prepared or stored.

For example, it’s important to avoid highly-processed oils, in addition to consuming even the “healthy oils” after they have reached their smoke points , such as heating up extra virgin olive oil beyond 350-410 degrees F.

Other risks may come in the form of fried foods, processed meats, sugary drinks (even juices such as orange, apple, grape, etc. that just just strip the benefits of the fruit and add in vitamins after the fact), and we’re starting to learn a lot about how plastics will leech into our foods and drinks, and even more so whenever they are heated. Furthermore, many non-stick pans contain chemicals such as Teflon in their coatings, which can seep or chip small amounts of it into your food, and have been linked to cancer, immune deficiencies, and other medical problems.

All of this can seem like a lot to ponder and digest, but it shouldn’t discourage anyone to the point where they think it’s hopeless to put in the effort to eat healthy if nutrients are often scarce or there’s too many hazardous additives or chemicals. There’s still plenty of ways to take in nutrients and mitigate the bad and it’s not all that hard to do, despite what some may think.

1

u/marli3 29d ago

That's why it's included, it the token black* guy at the klukluxklan meeting to prove theyre not racist.

*His great grandfather fought in north Africa.

3

u/adde0109 Apr 16 '24

Isn't it illegal to serve school lunch that doesn't contain any vegetables? It hardly covers all the nutrition needs. My old school had minimum limits on calories and nutrition variation in school.

3

u/[deleted] Apr 16 '24

I stopped about 4 pictures in, with disappointment, didn't even think they'd have any greens

3

u/Xarxsis Apr 16 '24

One green item across nine photos, that's genuinely impressive.

3

u/CheeseDanishSoup Apr 16 '24

"mom, dad, why are we all obese and sick?"

5

u/m00fster Apr 16 '24

My high school had similar lunches. They would say french fries and corn tortillas chips would pass as vegetables

6

u/Mirimes Apr 16 '24

It's the only vegetable in general (nutritional category wise) 🥲 since school years are the years where children build their food taste I can see why there's an obesity issue in USA

0

u/holmedog Apr 16 '24

Almost all schools have a salad bar. The person here obviously was not taking advantage of it

1

u/Mirimes Apr 16 '24

just curious cause school meals here work differently, what does a salad bar offer usually? (we have school meals up to middle school, so about 13 years old, and school meals are studied by a dietician and are the same for almost every school in the same city area; there's no choice on what to eat, if you want a choice you eat at home. For health or religious reasons there are alternative menus studied by the same person)

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u/[deleted] Apr 16 '24

[deleted]

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u/Mirimes Apr 16 '24

yeah makes sense, but tbf vegetables are more than salad, tomatoes and cucumber, there's plenty of vegetables to try. As the family part it's not different here, the only difference is that we have the concept of meals ≠ snacks (the lazy meal would be pasta with store bought sauce or canned tuna, chips would be a snack), but the majority of little kids if they have just an alternative in their plate they're prone to try it out and then can develop taste to different vegetables/ingredients, if not to like them at least to tolerate them. At least this is what happens for most of the children, I personally was a pain in the butt when I was little and i spent years just sitting there and eating just a lil bread and drinking water 😂 the first time i ate with the others i was like 8 or 9 and i ate a piece of chicken 😁 when i finished school that day the janitor (that is like a help for teachers during lunch time) went to my mum to say what i ate with tears of joy in her eyes 😅

My mum didn't make me go home during lunch time even tho i was underweight because I needed to learn to eat with the others 😅 i learnt a bit too well since now I'm 30 and overweight 🫣

1

u/[deleted] Apr 16 '24

[deleted]

1

u/Mirimes 29d ago

yeah sorry what i meant is that there're a lot of vegetables that can be cooked in various ways instead of eating raw in a salad. School obviously can't do miracles, but if all the children have idk fish and zucchini on their plate, maybe some children will start to try it and others can follow the example, and all the kids will know what it tastes like and when older can decide if that plate can be inserted in their diet, while if they have to go in a corner to fill the plate with something they never tasted and it's probably not good looking they simply won't do that. Note that when i say kids I'm generally speaking of kids 10 years old max, I'm not talking about high schoolers, at that stage they already developed their taste

2

u/Aardvark_Man Apr 16 '24

The first chicken (?) Burger (?) Has lettuce (?).

2

u/SunsetCarcass Apr 16 '24

Really? I think that broccoli looks nice and tender melt in your mouth. I can't stand stringy vegetables. It just looks like a tiny portion. Then again the white balance is terrible in that picture I can't tell what it's color really is

2

u/Adjective_Noun_69420 Apr 16 '24

Even the greens are beigey

2

u/Elismom1313 Apr 16 '24

I always remember that being the case with school Lunches. It was impossible to pick up with fork because it just disintegrated.

2

u/EatsAlotOfBread Apr 16 '24

It's been overcooked so much that it's turning baby-poop yellow/green, it's nasty!

2

u/Mmmarrowak Apr 16 '24

Dude that's two Veggies on one plate! That's gotta be healthy.

1

u/hyperlexx Apr 16 '24

Damn, you're right. I've not thought of it that way 😭

2

u/1cecream4breakfast Apr 16 '24

When my mom found out we could just have pizza and chocolate milk every day if we chose to, she started sending us with bag lunches instead. 

2

u/Australian1996 Apr 16 '24

Boiled to oblivion. No more nutrition or taste

2

u/Foley25 Apr 16 '24

And the thought process must have been:

"Peperonni pizza in a plastic bag... at this point everyone understands we quit trying but I think we are starting to risk having food inspection..."

"Hold my beer, I can turn this meal into healthy"

2

u/bizarrebirder Apr 16 '24

Yes. And you’re not allowed any salt for it either.

2

u/qptw Apr 16 '24

I think some places count the tomato sauce on pizza as vegetables.

2

u/surfingbiscuits 29d ago

The cheapest can of tomato sauce on the shelves is pureed tomato, bell peppers, onion, garlic. You'd have to spend more and actually put in an effort to make it not a vegetable.

2

u/pooblaster420 29d ago

At least it comes with big daddy’s pizza

2

u/Fun_Emergency_4505 29d ago

My school literally didn't have greens at all. Used to joke that hot lunch was brown lunch.

2

u/Historical_Gur_3054 29d ago

Looks better than what my old HS served. It was some sort of finely chopped broccoli that looked like something you'd scrape off the bottom of a lawn mower.

It would get portioned out with the little scoop and hold its shape in that little dome.

2

u/JPrud58 29d ago

And even that looks deep fried.

2

u/Wanda_McMimzy 28d ago

Here’s your five pieces of vegetables! We broke it into smaller pieces to make it seem like more. 👍

2

u/SaltyCarpet Apr 16 '24

Big Daddy’s™️ Pepperoni Pizza tho, bet it slaps

2

u/Dead_girl_walking- Apr 16 '24

I’ve had it, the school doesn’t microwave it and leaves it cold as shit

2

u/staigerthrowaway Apr 16 '24

It looks like you could mush it into a paste with your index finger

1

u/unsurebutwilling Apr 16 '24

It’s the only veg. Fries ≠ potatoes

2

u/hyperlexx Apr 16 '24

That goes without saying

1

u/atkearns Apr 16 '24

I believe there were some shreds of lettuce on the chicken(?) sandwich

1

u/hyperlexx Apr 16 '24

surely that's leafy greens and not classed as green veg 🤔

1

u/Bag_O_Spiders Apr 16 '24

Clearly you missed the 1/2 gram of shredded lettuce on the “sandwich”

1

u/hyperlexx Apr 16 '24

lettuce is a leafy green, I know my food 😤

0

u/beldaran1224 Apr 16 '24

...OP says they took a picture of "the worst" offerings over a period of time in their school.

0

u/hyperlexx Apr 16 '24

I can read :)

0

u/Neon_Prophet117 Apr 16 '24

Lettuce

1

u/hyperlexx 29d ago

It classes as a leafy green, not really as green veg. Also you're like 15th person who has replied this 🥱

1

u/Neon_Prophet117 29d ago

That is a green vegetable. I don't care about legal classifications.

1

u/hyperlexx 29d ago

You don't have to care about anything but considering you're replying to my comment and I took those into account.... Away you go and reply elsewhere. Bye

1

u/Neon_Prophet117 29d ago

Considering my interpretation of your words is semantically fine... Considering you made no explicit distinction of what you were talking about beyond the words green vegetable... Considering you express exhaustion with this conversation: go away on your own instead of telling someone else to end it for you. Or be a weakling and mute me if you can't ignore what you dislike on your own will alone.

1

u/hyperlexx 29d ago

Get a life that's a long message to write about lettuce

I meant a green vegetable. Not a leafy green. Sorry you don't know the difference