Comments

1
I had one school lunch in my 18 years at Seattle Public Schools. I got in the wrong line by accident in 1st grade, ended up with some bizarre gray-gravy-oozing pocket thing instead of grilled cheese, threw it out and told my mom a friend shared his lunch with me. That red sauce hasn't gotten any better by the sound of it. For some reason bringing your own lunch was always a bit weirder despite how godawful everything from the cafeteria always was.
2
First they came for the cheese zombies,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a cheese zombie.
3
Try living on $1 a day for a family of four.

Like most of Africa and Asia.

Today.
4
"Really? In 2010, the President is still making 'If-my-wife-gets-unhappy-I'm-sleeping-on-the-couch' jokes?"

It's certainly not the first time for this president, and it's irritating every time he does it.
5
@3, why? Say what you will about global aid, but we can afford better than this shit for school kids.
6
@5- I'm not sure we can afford better at the moment. Unless the state does away with levy equalization.
7
Good point, @6.

Time to let the Tim Eymans of our state live within their means.
8
I grew up in Machias and we had pizza every damn day........

9
I still gag a little when I recall the stench of "bread rectangle with red goo and artificial cheese bits" I mean, er, "pizza" that permeated the school cafeteria every Friday when I was in elementary school. Gross.
10
We had this wonderfully sick mixture called "Witch's Brew" it was watery brown gravy with microscopic chunks of ground beef served over instant mashed potatoes that they forgot to add the milk to while making.

I have to go and puke now....
11
yeah, i never, ever ate school lunch. well, pizza day i did. but it was still cardboard.

when middle school hit you could buy cup o' noodles and cookies in the lunch line. i did that instead (both noodles and cookies, every day, and a surge at lunch). also gross.
12
Of course I'm older than most of you, but when I was very young they actually cooked the food there at the school. The only thing I hated was Chicken Fried Steak. That just grossed me out. The rest wasn't bad. The hamburgers (mostly soy) and mac 'n cheese were great.

By the time I got to high school, they were getting junkier, but I wasn't eating in the cafeteria. I made a habit of sneaking out every day. I was finally busted the last day of senior year by the wrestling coach, who hated me because I was a big old theater queen. He made a big deal out of frog walking me to the office, but as soon as he left the secretary tore up my "demotion" and told me to have a great graduation.

But it's no joke is that school lunch is the only real food some of these kids get, and the school district has a budget of something like $1.25 per child.
13
How about this...microwave ovens. Heard of them?

Get some Marie Calendar's on sale for $4.00 or probably cheaper in bulk. Have a bunch of freezers and microwaves. Let kids pick which dinner they want.

What's the problem?
14
Doghouse jokes are universal and timeless.
15
Just put all that money towards ranch dressing in bulk. Cafeteria food always tastes better when you drown it in ranch.
16
Dear Leader, I know that details make you all tense and nervous, but your odd little Marie Callender idea would blow the budget.

But maybe we could take the money needed for that ridiculous stream flow monitoring.
17
@13 I hope you're joking.
18
What the hell does a pool need with school lunches?

And giving the government more power to decide foods can be offered in the meals? Because the government (federal or otherwise) has such a great track record in deciding what Americans should be eating?
19
Hey, I consider it funny compared to the one about the Jonas Brothers being into his daughters and predator drones that kill people by remote control.
20
I can see that light-brown-rubber-square with light-yellow-polymer dark-red-paint and dark-brown-granules (which my cafeteria insisted on calling "pizza" despite evidence to the contrary) is an experience that unites, and horrifies, us all.

Although one of my few pleasant high school memories involves sitting around with a bunch of other kids trying to decide what, exactly, our "vegetable sticks" were made of. I think we decided on some mutant mix of celery and broccoli.
21
The school lunches at my school were awesome, if you didnt want the hot lunch you could get a sub sandwich either combo or tuna, both were delicious. Or if you didnt want any of that you could go to the "snack line" and get muffin or cookies or a tray of "freedom" fries. Pizza, nacho and grilled cheese days were the best.
22
I'm all for reforming school lunches, but I'm doubtful that the government will make the food taste better. I do have a huge problem with the last part, that the government has input on what can be sold during fundraisers. My little sister's school already doesn't allow kids to bring cupcakes to school on their birthday - it has to be something prepackaged like HoHos or Twinkies. They say it's to prevent something bad from happening, but to my knowledge, no parent has ever tried to poison their kid's class with cupcakes. And if fundraisers are only allowed to sell healthy or prepackaged foods, then it kind of defeats the point, doesn't it? I'll give you a buck for a homemade cookies, but not for a baggie of carrot sticks.
23
Jesi, I would be willing to bet you that the ban on homemade stuff is not the result of "the government" per se, but the result of a bunch of neurotic parents who watch too much TV deciding that homemade stuff is a threat, and then pestering the school about it.

I do think that since "the government" is paying for this program and since school lunches have been proven to be the only real nutrition some kids get, they have a right to step in an insist on some basic guidelines.

Of course, in the wrong hands, it's a disaster. Remember Ronald Reagan and his ketchup-as-a-vegetable policy?
24
I had a Seattle Public School lunch this past Friday. The entree was terrible, but the sides (fruits and veggies) were fresh, unadulterated, and somewhat local. I don't think it's as bad as people are making it out to be.
25
Seattle Public Schools have been upgrading their lunches in the last couple years. They're not the healthiest things in the world, but in the past three years I've noticed an improving trend. There's a lot of whole wheat on the menu now. They still have horribly over-sugared yogurts and too many Munchables for my taste.

Anyway, here's next month's menu: http://www.seattleschools.org/area/nutri…
26
You know, some schools actually have decent school lunches. In areas where the school is able to set up a partnership with local growers, school lunches actually include fresh, organic, healthy food.

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