The Major Complaints

For years, the most frequent descriptives of America’s school lunches have ranged from “awful” — for the better ones — to “abominable.” Dave Bebell, an elementary school principal in Englewood, Colo., told us, “I have had more complaints about lunches than about any other single aspect of the school program.”

Since no self-respecting fifth- through twelfth-grader would get caught being appreciative of school food, those complaints are just kid-talk, right?

Nope. Here’s what the experts had to say:

* Schools “put profit over nutrition,” says the USDA. Firms and franchises pay schools to post their logos around, which critics say gives kids the impression the school endorses their products. Some campuses even lease on-site space to fast food outlets. Vending machines, school stores and organizations sell nutrition-deficit snacks, directly competing with vitamins and minerals. USDA Undersecretary Shirley R. Watkins notes, “We cannot teach good nutrition in the classroom, while providing unhealthy, high-fat, high-sugar food on school grounds.”
* Increasingly, school meals are prepared by outside contractors, who see food service not as an educational responsibility but as a profitable opportunity.

* Increasingly, school meals are prepared by outside contractors, who see food service not as an educational responsibility but as a profitable opportunity. “The district has a lunch contract with Marriot Corporation,” says a Medford, Oregon elementary teacher. “Cardboard pizza, chicken-fat nuggets, green wieners, mystery meat burgers. Each child is given an entree and a starch, picks out his own fruits/veggies at a salad bar. Many children bypass the bar unless a lunchroom aide is watching. Marriot says food waste is way down since the bar was installed.” A report from the Oregon Department of Education suggests that “wasted” food means only what’s in the garbage can, not what the kitchen has to toss because food not chosen passes its prime.
* School food isn’t healthy. By the government’s figures, only 2% of school-age kids meet all the daily nutritional recommendations and 16% meet no recommendations.
* “Participation in school lunch goes down as kids get older,” said Susan Acker, USDA Public Affairs specialist. “Kids leave campus and go to the nearest junk food. In many high schools, it isn’t cool for girls to eat lunch, period.”
* Schools don’t provide adequate time for lunch. Acker told us, “Due to long lines and lack of space, sometimes students only have ten minutes to eat.”

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