Posted on 06/04/2015 4:56:53 PM PDT by UMCRevMom@aol.com
What just happened at a Denver middle school is the latest example of a lunch program failing to deliver meals students actually like, following the guidelines championed by First Lady Michelle Obama.
Kepner Middle School’s food problems, however, went beyond seeking to provide lunches that meet the National School Lunch Program guidelines. Related Stories
Stephanie Torres, a student at Kepner, raised the alarm at a school board meeting about meals not properly prepared, food shortages, and limited choices that prompted a school board member and representatives from Padres y Jóvenes Unidos (“Parents and Youth United”) to make a lunchtime visit to the cafeteria.
School officials accommodated the May 12 visit, but the cafeteria staff was not made aware of it. What the visitors received when they went through the lunch line was shocking.
Chalkbeat Colorado reports that Monica Acosta, lead health justice organizer with Padres, went along on the visit and took a picture of her lunch tray. “It was heartbreaking. That’s the type of food Kepner students have been having all year long,” she said.
The meal included outdated milk, a burned bun, undercooked chicken, an unripened pear (too hard to eat), and frozen strawberries.
Torres and Acosta have reported that the school lunches have improved during the last three weeks since the visit. The Denver Public Schools’ (DPS) nutrition services department met twice with representatives from Padres and parents from other schools where there have been complaints. Acosta says she is grateful for the changes that have been implemented. She believes the school system is “definitely on the right track.”
The DPS plans to put Kepner on a different meal model for next year.
A New York school district announced earlier this week that it is withdrawing one of its schools from the National School Lunch Program altogether. Greater Johnstown School District in update New York determined that the program is exacerbating the school’s budget challenges, due in part to food waste. The district is planning a pilot program at one of its schools, where it will implement a less costly local alternative.
The Washington Free Beacon reports: “Since the introduction of the National School Lunch Program in 2012, 1.2 million students have dropped out of [it]. Those who remain continue to throw away food, resulting in $1 billion in food waste.”
A Harvard study found that students are eating more fruits (up 23 percent) and vegetables (up 16 percent) since the new standards were implemented. However, a study by the School Nutrition Association found that 81 percent of the schools surveyed reported an increase in waste. Topping the plate waste list, which any parent could have guessed…vegetables.
47 percent of schools reported a “decrease” or “strong decrease” in food revenues under the new guidelines, while 87 percent reported an increase in food costs (with 36 percent indicating a “strong increase.”)
Maybe the whole point of Moos food program was to get the schools to drop out of the federal program so the Feds could use the money elsewhere.
Not sure that even rises to the level of bad hospital food.
Never saw strawberries that look like dog turds before
The schools pay the same price for this as for a decent meal. Where does the money go?
Not exactly what Zer0 and the kids have set before them. At least long ago when I was in school, most of the lunch line food was actually good. Even the roast beef, ice cream scoop mashed potatos, most other veggies, and even the bread pudding were good.
I bet prisoners in Gitmo are fed better than that.
If they want to stop food wastage maybe the should charge the kids money for every ounce of food that is wasted. After all, wasted food fills up refuse dumps and that’s bad for the environment as well as all those starving kids in other countries who would be happy to eat that type of lunch./s
“health justice organizer” ??
You read my mind!
Responsibility for such ridiculous lunches goes beyond moochelle’s bad influence.
This is the responsibility of the district / school lunchroom manager & the workers — there is no excuse for undercooked chicken, burned buns, and frozen strawberries. There is no excuse for such incompetence and lack of care.
Back in the 60’s and 70’s in school there was never the controversy over school lunches. But now the Feds via Mooschelle knows better. Dipwads.
Then there’s this:
‘...prompted a school board member and representatives from Padres y Jóvenes Unidos (“Parents and Youth United”)...”
there is no excuse for undercooked chicken, burned buns, and frozen strawberries. There is no excuse for such incompetence and lack of care.
Exactly what I was thinking. Most of the problems with the meal are results from poor planning and time management. A chicken sandwich, fries and fruit shouldn’t be a horrible meal, but they ran out of or ruined every single item.
I have a feeling that once the obamas are gone nobody will ever want to talk about them. Even their supporters and leading democrat politicians will say “Obama isn’t president anymore so let’s move on.”
The lunches, for the majority of the schools, are not prepared by someone’s mom working part time for the school. The food is produced by mega-corps on assembly lines run by MBAs that produce lunches to the technical specifications of the USDA food Nazis and Moo without regard to it being edible or consumed by the kids. Since the board, school staff and teachers don’t eat the crap there is no real incentive for the schools to change.
Put Navy cooks in charge of the cafeterias. Free lunches will be a giant helping of some easy to make casserole. If they don’t like it, give them an MRE. Jello if you’re good.
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