The only whole items I've ever seen are lettuce, tomato, and apples. Wait, once they gave the kids a mango. They didn't know what it was, and they certainly didn't eat it.
Whatever your feelings are about the free/reduced lunch programs (or public school in general), set those aside for now... the only reliable meal that some of these kids have is the meal at school, and we're feeding them garbage. I remember my school lunches as a kid. They were delicious, fresh, and nutritious. Our lunch ladies cooked, they didn't just reheat; it was as though your grandmother was making your lunch.
I’ve heard from neighbors with kids who go to the public school that they won’t subject them to the school lunches, because they don’t have enough fresh veggies and are short on protein-they pack their kids’ lunches. The nearby private school is supposedly better-small lunchroom, and the employees actually cook-and offer a variety of fresh fruit-most kids still brown bag it, though. My kid hated school lunches at her private school-I always packed her lunch-she said the meat was overcooked and the veggies limp. No vitamins or other useful nutrients left there...