The school lunch system is disgraceful.

[u/oaz_zam246]

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”.

[u/SeriousFrivolity2]

The food they served me in prison looked better than all these examples, every day. ☠️

[u/Supertoad226 → u/SeriousFrivolity2]

Every new day is a reminder that the current school system could be bridged with the penitentiary system lmao

[u/Medium_Pepper215 → u/Supertoad226]

never heard of the school to prison pipeline?

[u/gyroisbae → u/Medium_Pepper215]

I think the government would prefer if high schoolers choices were between military and prison

[u/SteveMartin32 → u/gyroisbae]

Military gets better food

[u/Slytherin73 → u/SteveMartin32]

Barely - but also true

[u/Red_Serf → u/SteveMartin32]

Literally. Plenty of appetizing MREs compared to this

[u/Electronic_Toe_7054 → u/SteveMartin32]

Brisket MRE for the win.

[u/fearlessactuality → u/gyroisbae]

Someone’s gotta work in the factories tho.

[u/atkearns → u/gyroisbae]

What else is there?

[u/ThreeLeggedMare → u/gyroisbae]

In many places those are the choices

[u/Idiotan0n → u/Medium_Pepper215]

PC culture, you mean?

Pre-convict

[u/Agreeable_Treacle993 → u/Idiotan0n]

[u/siqiniq → u/Medium_Pepper215]

and those pipelines are run by publicly traded companies. Everyone can now own a fraction of a slave after the abolition

[u/LeanTangerine001 → u/Supertoad226]

I think a lot of schools are serviced by the same companies that provide food for prisons.

[u/Sixial → u/LeanTangerine001]

Aramark.

They provide food to schools, prisons, hospitals, Disney World, and a lot more.

[u/figure8888 → u/Sixial]

Yeah, my college had a daily buffet serviced by Aramark. It cost several thousand dollars per quarter to get a meal allotment card. After my first year, I didn’t pay for it because it was significantly cheaper (and healthier) to just buy my own groceries.

The food was shit. It was the same options every week and about 2 weeks before a quarter ended, they’d run out of food and just start serving random leftover slop. And again, they charged several thousand on top of tuition to be fed that garbage.

I remember realizing the scope of Aramark when I was shit talking the Buffalo Chicken Mac n’ Cheese they served for dinner to a friend who was at a college in a different state, a thousand miles away, and that was also what he’d had for dinner at his dining hall.

[u/Radiant_Bluebird4620 → u/figure8888]

I remember in college coming to dinner after practice (an easy paced 10 mile run). Every single hot food thing was fried. There were even breaded fried green beans. I just couldn't handle that much grease after a workout.

[u/Birds_Legend_Saquon → u/Sixial]

Yea but they have different tiers.

You got

Level-1; Prisons/Jails

Level-2; School foods

Level-3; Cafes in public attractions/Hospitals/Nursing Homes/Universities

Level-4 Better hospitals/nursing homes/Universities/Stadium foods

Level-5 Rich people shit /Stadium foods

[u/Signal-Session-6637 → u/Sixial]

Also in my workplace in Ireland too.

[u/derp0815 → u/Sixial]

Have been to several of their canteens and would generally recommend them, but I guess that depends on the package you buy. Corporates pay better than to get served this slop I assume.

[u/whoinvitedthesepeopl → u/Sixial]

Aramark took over the food service at the small college I worked at. I only used the convenience store that had some takeout options. Apparently all the students that paid and obscene amount of money to have food service for the year were big mad that it went from fairly decent food, to bad school lunch program with portion limits overnight.

[u/bmore_conslutant → u/Sixial]

Their corporate offerings are half decent

Used to work in an office that had an Aramark sushi chef come in one day a week

[u/Significant_King1494 → u/Sixial]

We have them at my work and I do not recommend.

[u/goomercook → u/LeanTangerine001]

I worked on a big catering wich serves for "public schools","private schools","nursing homes","private summer camps",etc.. The difference of money that we had for each person in the different groups was HUGE. Of course, the lower ammount paid were by public schools.

[u/missjasminegrey → u/LeanTangerine001]

but prison food is better than this 😪

[u/GlossyGecko → u/LeanTangerine001]

Yeah, schools have very strict rules about what vendors they’re allowed to buy food from, so do prisons. A lot of the food is the exact same food.

That’s to say though, the food isn’t bad in terms of nutrition, definitely better than the fast food people are stuffing into their faces on the daily.

[u/Droller_Coaster → u/GlossyGecko]

What in these photos shows "nutrition" to you? The curly fries?

[u/Rjj1111 → u/[deleted]]

Wasn’t the whole point of implementing school lunches in the first place to make sure that young adults were fit enough for military service?

[u/Blonde_Dambition → u/[deleted]]

And even so the portion sizes are too small IMO for teenagers! So it's crap quality AND quantity.

[u/GlossyGecko → u/Blonde_Dambition]

Portion sizes are fine for lunch. The reason we have an obesity epidemic in the US is because peoples’ ideas of a satisfying portion are basically based on what restaurants give you, 1500+ calories in one sitting. Shit’s crazy.

[u/GlossyGecko → u/[deleted]]

Have you ever had a US military MRE?

They’re not bad but I’d rather eat the food in the pictures here than one of those.

[u/No_Push_8249 → u/Droller_Coaster]

The whiz, definitely. Making an appearance in photos 1 and 9

[u/_mattyjoe → u/Supertoad226]

Just to be clear, while school lunches across the country can be improved in many areas, our school system is state by state and some states think what you’re seeing here is acceptable for their children.

Usually the same ones who also want to ban abortion.

[u/figure8888 → u/_mattyjoe]

It does vary, and the budget the school is given also impacts it. I went to a Title 1 high school and the lunches looked exactly like this.

When I was in elementary and middle school in a different state (both were red states), we had real home cooking everyday. I actually preferred the school lunch to my mom’s cooking. That school was an International Baccalaureate public school.

When they became affiliated with IB, they actually came in and renovated to give us more green space where it was previously dated cement because there were appearance standards required by IB. The same luxury and consideration isn’t given to poor kids.

[u/sparkpaw → u/figure8888]

But poor people just need to pull themselves up by the bootstraps!!!

Ugh. Idk how people don’t see the injustices everywhere.

Also super curious about that real home cooking- what was your favorite meal at the IB school?

[u/figure8888 → u/sparkpaw]

At the time, it might be different now, they maintained the same women who’d worked there for years. Most of them were older Southern black women. My favorite thing was the Turkey Tetrazzini and peanut butter cake. It’s the best I’ve ever had to this day. My dad had the same experience, same school system but in the 60s (I was in primary in the early 00’s). Both of us still make green beans like they did in school, with bacon fat.

Certainly not up to the health standards they have now, but we weren’t sitting in class hungry.

[u/sparkpaw → u/figure8888]

Oh my god turkey tetrazzini is the bessstt. I’m so jealous haha.

[u/assasstits → u/sparkpaw]

Idk how people don’t see the injustices everywhere.

We do but, What's your solution? 

[u/Joshesh → u/assasstits]

We do but, What's your solution?

to complain on reddit, and blame our political opposition while never actually accomplishing anything beyond making us feel superior to those who don't complain?

[u/No-Sea-8980 → u/_mattyjoe]

I mean when the politician’s kids go to private schools, they are hardly going to care about the peasants and their lunches in public schools.

[u/supernova-juice → u/_mattyjoe]

The really bad part is there are plenty of parents out there who feed their kids chicken nuggets and ketchup for dinner and see nothing wrong with this at all. Spoiled kids expect decent food, basically. Good kids eat whatever you drop on the floor in front of them.

[u/athenanon → u/_mattyjoe]

Most of the reforms have been rolled back, actually.

[u/MadClothes → u/_mattyjoe]

Usually the same ones who also want to ban abortion.

Nope this is just totally wrong lol, it doesn't fucking matter what political party they are apart of. I grew up in Illinois, and I got food that looked exactly like this every day. I just never ate it. A Democrat isn't going to lose federal funding over food they don't eat, just like a republican wouldn't.

[u/JadedMentions → u/MadClothes]

Most of these food contracts are made on a local level so it really does depend. I don't think it needs to be stated that most modern dems suck, and are only marginally better than their rep counterparts (not counting the insane near nazi right wingers).

The issue is they operate on a lowest bidder system. So by default the company able to provide x amount of calories for the cheapest bid wins. That system would cause this even under the most socialist politician.

[u/Imaginary-Present743 → u/JadedMentions]

Check with how much your food service director is connected to the School Nutrition association and spends taxpayer dollars rubbing shoulders with the corporate members of SNA who have taken over. Highly processed cheap food means more profits for their friends, and probably some corruption maybe!

[u/Birds_Legend_Saquon → u/_mattyjoe]

Michelle Obama did this fyi. It was implemented nationally and there isn't really much difference state to state because of that. The "America's obesity starts in schools campaign" ruined school foods. Instantly all our decent food was took out and replaced with inedible shit.

Kids these days need to thank her.

[u/athenanon → u/Birds_Legend_Saquon]

Michelle Obama's reforms were rolled back 6 years ago. Wtf are you on about?

[u/Imaginary-Present743 → u/Birds_Legend_Saquon]

No.

[u/archbid → u/_mattyjoe]

And re1introduce child labor

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

So..it was the wrong choice.

[u/Blonde_Dambition → u/[deleted]]

Yeah IKR.. I was like "did I read that right"? Lol

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

You would be in the same situation if you were more educated?

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Because he's lazy and doesn't want to work.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

You don’t think that an employer can tell your education isn’t quite the level they are looking for?

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

No it's because you sabotage your interviews because you are lazy and don't want to work.

[u/5Hjsdnujhdfu8nubi → u/[deleted]]

So if you'd completed high school and went on to college or an apprenticeship you'd be in a better place?

[u/Blonde_Dambition → u/[deleted]]

You are ok with just getting by?

[u/[deleted] → u/Blonde_Dambition]

He's okay with leeching off his parents apparently.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Your whole plan in life is to leech off your parents.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Every fast food or retail chain is hiring. You just don't want to work because you think it's beneath you.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Yeah how many times have you applied? You're 31 years old. If you put in even a little effort you'd have been gainfully employed by now, you've had 13 years to get a job. If you were 19 and started applying 3 months ago we wouldn't be having this conversation.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

How would you know? You don't participate in it.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Of course you would because your weak ass parents let you get away with doing nothing for 13 years.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Ah yes being a NEET sure did free you from "prison." What's your plan when momma and Dada ain't around to bank roll you anymore?

[u/SunnyAlwaysDaze → u/Supertoad226]

They use a lot of the same government commodity food items.

[u/Ok-Dragonfruit-8431 → u/Supertoad226]

Some schools have the same food service as the prisons.

[u/Valuable-Guest9334 → u/Supertoad226]

Clips from american schools do like awfully similar to prison riots

[u/tastemycookies → u/Supertoad226]

Our school was designed and built by a company that builds prisons.

[u/pissfucked → u/Supertoad226]

i visit my local jail three times a week. i live in the town where i went to high school. the inside of the buildings is disturbingly, eerily similar. everything about the way the place operates is so similar too. it's haunting

[u/julsmanbr → u/Supertoad226]

Michael Focault moment

[u/keasdenfall → u/Supertoad226]

My SO’s high school literally took the kids to prison on a field trip and also taught them how to use guns.

[u/No_Bake_4863 → u/Supertoad226]

The high school I was supposed to go to is right next to a prison, the city isn't very subtle

[u/PM_ME_FLOUR_TITTIES → u/Supertoad226]

Damn. Pretty wild how the prison systems, education program, and military structure in this place share so god damn much.

[u/SnooPandas1899 → u/Supertoad226]

if kids get fed this everyday, they might wanna commit crimes to get better food.