Nasty School Lunches....

[staropeace]

I can honestly say, as a graduate of Culinary Arts, I would not work at a job that served food like this. Did they pick out the worst cooks on the planet to cook in these American schools? I use to love eating in the school cafes in Alberta....always good. I pity the kids who had to eat this swill.

Unhealthy food: Some of the nastiest school lunches in American cafeterias

 

[kingricefan]

So nasty! I especially am sickened by the pic featuring all that fried 'food' with one little dollup of rice. So-o healthy!
By the way- I really miss the apple 'crisp' that we used to get with lunch once a week!

 

[Spideyman]

Totally disgusting. Where is the nutrition?

 

[Shasta]

Have you seen "A Place at the Table?" You should.

 

[SusanNorton]

America continues its decades-long trend of trying to cut corners on our future. Disgusting.

 

[staropeace]

One of the schools that was situated across from me when I lived farther north in Alberta had a salad bar...they also had a swimming pool and inside running track too. Lots of money up in the oilpatch.

 

[SusanNorton]

Nice, Star. Our state has so many natural resources, but the money all goes to crooked politicians and government buildings - you should see our school board buildings. Fancy, fancy, while my daughter and her classmates have to trudge through moats to get to portable classrooms from the '60s.

 

[king family fan]

Here they aren't allowed to serve anything fried.

 

[AnnaMarie]

Some schools have been taking students phones away if they see students taking pictures. And some are not allowing lunches from home because they want to ensure the kids eat healthy. (To assume every parent would send unhealthy food is offensive. To do so and feed this garbage is beyond offensive.)

 

[king family fan]

the idea of school lunch is great for the family's who can't afford lunch and get free or reduced lunch. But how many children really enjoy school lunches. Less you have a strange eater. I must admit I have one of those. The flatter tasting the better he likes it.

 

[Walter Oobleck]

We had no school lunches...brown bag lunches made that morning for us. We did have Copper Country Dairy milk, white or chocolate...but that dairy is closed now. From time to time, one of the classes would have a sloppy-Joe sale, or a hot dog sale...and you did not need a lunch that day. (I've had hot dogs here there everywhere, but you have not tasted a good hot dog until you've had a Vollwerth's hot dog.) The money the class made...sophomore, junior, or senior...the money the class made was put in an account that enabled them to go on a class trip their senior year, one of the last weeks of class. Harvest time our lunch had a lot of garden produce. Now I think they feed the kids two meals at school...or some of them. I doubt our lunches were "highly-nutritious!" something that "nine out of ten specialists agree!" on. How much food is wasted? How much food is tossed? How far would that food go to those who really need it?

In service we had "wet garbage"...food not eaten...this on a ship w/less than 300 on it...through the chute on the fantail and into the water it went...to the little fishies swimming in the sea. In port, the call would be passed over the 1MC, "Wet garbage"...and two sailors would take the galvanized garbage can...two mess-cooking sailors...and they'd carry it off the brow of the ship to a truck that had a small dumpster attached. Hogs ate it, I suspect.

So how much food is wasted? Given to the hogs. All in the name of "nutrition".

 

[staropeace]

The hogs would turn down some of the food on these pics lol.

 

[GNTLGNT]

...our inmates enjoy better fare...

 

[Out of Order]

They should use MOOOVE OVER BUTTER.

 

[GNTLGNT]

...happy now???....

 

[HollyGolightly]

@staropeace - I wish you'd post some quick easy dinner recipes for us! I get so tired of serving the same things to my family, and they get so tired of eating the same things, but alas, I hate the drudgery of dinner time cooking!

re the school lunches: back in the 70s and 80s when I was still in school, our lunches were delicious! They actually fried the tator tots and used real cheese on the pizzas. We had a baked potato bar and a salad bar everyday in case you didn't like the main course. I've been packing lunches for 22 years (our first child is 22, our second is 13, and the baby is 10) - our kids never ever eat the school lunch. I took one look the first day and decided it would never happen.

 

[Out of Order]

...happy now???....

How do you suppose they got that cow to mooooooooooo on cue?

 

[mustangclaire]

Here in the UK our school dinners have undergone a bit of a revolution, thanks, mostly to Jamie Oliver. I have to say Sonny's school dinners (he's still at junior school) are healthy and nutritious and I'm happy for him to have them. I saw a documentary when he tried to go over to the USA to do the same and was met with massive resistance. Over here, even packed lunches are "monitored" and kids are only allowed to take fresh fruit or vegetables in for their mid morning snack. Chips (fries) are only served once a week (Fridays), and there are terrific vegetarian options too. We are very lucky I feel!!

 

[Sundrop]

I showed the pics to my daughter....she's 12..... She said her school lunches don't ever look like that, but she asked if I had ever seen pics of school lunches from Japan....those, she said, "are amazing".
At her school, they always have a choice of the entree, or a sandwich and a fruit and vegetable. We have access to the lunch menu each month, and when they serve something she doesn't like, she packs her own lunch.

 

[Moderator]

Here in the UK our school dinners have undergone a bit of a revolution, thanks, mostly to Jamie Oliver. I have to say Sonny's school dinners (he's still at junior school) are healthy and nutritious and I'm happy for him to have them. I saw a documentary when he tried to go over to the USA to do the same and was met with massive resistance. Over here, even packed lunches are "monitored" and kids are only allowed to take fresh fruit or vegetables in for their mid morning snack. Chips (fries) are only served once a week (Fridays), and there are terrific vegetarian options too. We are very lucky I feel!!

I watched that Jamie Oliver show, too, and was totally disgusted by the response of many of the lunchroom employees. Even when clearly the kids were happier with the more healthy foods so ate it and made healthy choices on their own, the cost was mostly still in line with what they were paying for the crap they had been serving, and the meals were fairly simple, they still took an eff you attitude that you're not going to come in here and tell me how to do my job and they went right back to serving chicken nuggets, frozen pizza, etc. And when that happened, less kids bought the school lunches and started brown bagging it again. Of course, that made their job a lot easier which also said to me that they were also just being lazy.