If you weren’t one of those kids whose mother carefully packed each school lunch, complete with something healthy, a homemade dessert, and a hand-written note, then you probably remember the school lunch that you purchased in the cafeteria.
I suppose it depends on the school, but I imagine that most school lunches were like the ones that I ate, with a little carton of milk, a bland entree, and probably an apple or some pears in syrup. It wasn’t a gourmet meal, but since lunchtime was more about hanging out with friends and taking a break from the classroom, I rarely even noticed what was on my plate.
However, according to this story, school lunches have gotten worse in the years since I graduated.
When an elementary school-aged boy in Indiana forgot his lunch money, he was given “lunch” by the cafeteria workers. However, the picture he sent to his mother, Amy Wittaker Anders, revealed an extremely moldy peanut butter sandwich, both inside and out.
From the look of the photos, it seems that the mold was obvious and there was no reason that the sandwich should have ever been given to a child. Though he returned the sandwich and asked for another one, which he was given, he was too afraid to eat it.
“I have no idea how someone could not see this was bad when handing it out,” Amy wrote in a Facebook post.
Her son reported that the same thing happened to another student a few weeks before this incident.
Amy’s’ post began to spread on Facebook and it understandingly sparked outrage. The school then released this statement:
“We are grateful to be made aware of the situation and have reached out to the parents and apologized. This is an unacceptable human error and we are looking into it to ensure that this never happens again.”
Apparently, this isn’t only a problem for Indiana students. A group of Maryland students recently posted photos of their school lunches on social media, revealing disgusting, moldy, undercooked and expired food.
Studies have shown that nutrition is important for students and their ability to learn. As this becomes more obvious, schools and advocates are doing more to make sure every child in school has access to a healthy lunch.
California recently introduced a bill that would stop school “lunch-shaming”. Basically, it states that students can’t be publicly shamed or given a different meal than other students if their parents fail to pay or get behind on school lunch payments.
It also requires local education authorities provide assistance to families by helping them sign up for free- and reduced-lunch programs if they can’t pay. Supporters of the bill argue that children shouldn’t be used as a means for debt collection.
What do you think of school lunch programs? Please like and share this eye-opening article!
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