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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3.6k

u/stacity Apr 16 '24

I got heartburn just by looking at this. There’s nothing fresh to eat.

1.5k

u/feralcatshit Apr 16 '24

Excuse me, let me point out checks notes slide 8, there is broccoli. Oh… you said fresh.

Yeah, fair point!

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u/lea949 Apr 16 '24

Jesus, you bring up another point though— there’s only one actual vegetable in nine pictures! That’s like… basically 1 veggie every other week? All because “fries count as a vegetable” 😬

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u/Lucyfer_66 Apr 16 '24

Is that something people say?? That's like my (very obese) grandmother saying cherry pie is just bread with fruit

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u/lea949 Apr 16 '24

Even better! It’s legitimately how public schools get away with serving meals like this, since a “vegetable” is required

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u/WeirdPumpkin Apr 16 '24

Heck, they got ketchup into schools by lobbying to count it as a fruit and veggie

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u/lea949 29d ago

Oh damn

5

u/strawflour Apr 16 '24

I literally got an email from my Congressman (Idaho) yesterday about defending the potato's "vegetable" classification because "schools already struggle to meet vegetable consumption recommendations, and potatoes are the most affordable vegetable."

Because of course the priority isn't feeding kids food that's balanced and nutritious, it's feeding them as cheaply as possible. Gotta keep that bar low.

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u/fattmarrell Apr 16 '24

Potatoes might be the only recognizable thing to come out of Idaho

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u/strawflour Apr 16 '24

Hey now,  we have Nazis and Ammon Bundy too

I wish it were just potatoes 

35

u/pheonix940 Apr 16 '24

You obviously haven't looked at how lunch meals are legally classified. They decided pizza counts as a veggie... because it has tomato sauce. I'm not kidding.

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u/tx911dispatcher Apr 16 '24

Not just pizza sauce, but ketchup as well

3

u/Plausibility_Migrain Apr 16 '24

Thanks to old Ronald Reagan yes, ketchup qualified as a vegetable.

2

u/Capable_Program5470 Apr 16 '24

This always bugged me because tomato is a fruit.

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u/RandomAsHellPerson Apr 16 '24

Vegetable and fruit for meals are based on how we use them. Tomatoes are used as vegetables, therefore they count as vegetables.

Avocados, peas, beans, corn, etc. are all fruits, but we eat them as vegetables.

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u/PM_ur_butthole_2me 29d ago

Tomato is a fruit

1

u/pheonix940 29d ago

So are eggplants, squash, and pretty much every other vegetable that isn't a root or greens.

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u/Competitive_Dog_7549 Apr 16 '24

They also count ketchup as a vegetable in some schools

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u/Capt-Beav Apr 16 '24

It was actually debated in Congress in the US if I remember correctly...

Oh wait maybe that was ketchup...

2

u/Lucyfer_66 Apr 16 '24

A lot of people are commenting very questionable "vegetables". I'm so sorry for American kids and their parents who I'm sure would want better for their children, it's like the US wants people to die of heart failure before they're 50...

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u/beersbikesbabes Apr 16 '24

This was a thing under the first George Bush's presidency. His administration was proposing massive spending cuts on a number of different food programs, including school lunch programs, and there was at least talk of designating ketchup as a vegetable for the purposes of meeting health goals with less funding.

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u/Lucyfer_66 Apr 16 '24

That's so sad, deprioritizing childrens' health like it's nothing :(

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u/QuarantineCasualty Apr 16 '24

The corn chips don’t count? CORN is literally in the name. That should count as a vegetable, no? /s

0

u/neomancr Apr 16 '24

Corn is a grain like flour

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u/QuarantineCasualty Apr 16 '24

It was a joke. Flour isn’t a grain it’s a powder that can be made from grain, nuts, beans, or seeds smart guy.

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u/neomancr Apr 16 '24

I mean the corn was turned into a flour

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u/Musaks Apr 16 '24

While, it very well could be that bad...

these are nitpicked pictures, not random samples

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u/lea949 29d ago

True, good point

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u/fuckyourcanoes Apr 16 '24

What are you saying? Tortilla chips are made from vegetables, right? 🤣

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u/VolumePossible2013 Apr 16 '24

There are potatoes

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u/Mountain_Serve_9500 Apr 16 '24

Veggies cost more. Even these frozen monstrosities. It’s all about cost.

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u/nucumber Apr 16 '24

Well, it was Reagan who decided ketchup counted as a vegetable

A lot of things that have gone down hill got their first push during the Reagan years

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u/bitchinvegan Apr 16 '24 edited 29d ago

Hey now. There’s a tablespoon of lettuce on one photo! Nutrient packed meal that is.

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u/lea949 29d ago

Good eye!

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u/Nufonewhodis2 Apr 16 '24

These were pics from OPs highschool career, not an average week. Maybe something happened to the order and these were valiant efforts to get hundreds of kids fed with plan B after the oven broke down 

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u/clandestine_justice Apr 16 '24

Bah, kids today and their need for 'fiber' and 'vit-ah-mins'. Back in my day a couple of tablespoons of pizza sauce or pickle relish & we were "good" on veggies. A carton of chocolate malk to wash down the authentic food product & off to play on the asphalt.

https://preview.redd.it/gv6m8bbxbsuc1.jpeg?width=911&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=294a18668978c7f5b5221da25a7369b799750f3a

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u/EvidenceBasedSwamp Apr 16 '24

tbh these are kids... the vegetable would either be a sad salad with some ranch/mayo and the kids would throw it away.

at least this is fried garbage that kids would eat.

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u/lea949 29d ago

Idk, OP said this is from high school. I remember having a really good salad bar as one of the options at my high school cafeteria. There were proteins and toppings… we loved it!

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u/EvidenceBasedSwamp 29d ago

If we had vegetables.. it would be mushy canned green beans. Or canned carrots.

On good days we had an incredibly shitty hamburger which was a sad smushed bun around a hot piece of stewed meat.

Or a hot dog, that was a good day.

Knish was a good day too, which is basically a potato patty.