“students are not required to take food items they do not wish to eat, “
I don’t think this is true — I read recently that they did have take them and they ended up throwing them away.
The key word there is ‘encouraged’.
So you are correct, they are leg through their teeth.
It can’t be a hard sell. First, they probably just convince them it is ‘mandatory’.
Second, just appeal to their helpfulness. If you take it, the meal is free, cause we get paid.
Hence, there is a LOT of tossed veggies and fruit in the trash.
Major problem.