Free Lunch is over
- Thread starter SamSpade
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sparkyaclown
Active Member
School lunches of today are gross and frankly I can't believe they are allowed to serve that crap. I have seen sandwiches they gave out as a lunch with meat that had turned gray and smelled way past its shelf life. Other lunches I honestly couldn't tell you what it was suppose to be. Most of the kids won't eat it and it ends up going in the trash. My wife would gather some of it up and bring it home to feed the wildlife, not sure it was even fit for them though.
I remember the days when the school cafeteria actually cooked the food for the kids. Whatever I ended up with when I did buy lunch was always pretty good. I don't get why they thought getting rid of that was a great idea. I'm sure it had to do with money, but when your paying for stuff that ultimately gets thrown away how is that saving money. The people in charge of these decisions should have to eat that everyday so thy can see how enjoyable it is for the kids.
I remember the days when the school cafeteria actually cooked the food for the kids. Whatever I ended up with when I did buy lunch was always pretty good. I don't get why they thought getting rid of that was a great idea. I'm sure it had to do with money, but when your paying for stuff that ultimately gets thrown away how is that saving money. The people in charge of these decisions should have to eat that everyday so thy can see how enjoyable it is for the kids.
You all talk about how gross today's school lunches are, but I don't remember them being some culinary delight when I was a kid. Even the tacos and pizza were underwhelming at best - certainly nothing we looked forward to. We didn't have a Michelle Obama trying to get us something tasty and nutritious.
Clem72
Well-Known Member
I always thought our meals were pretty good, pizza/hamburgers/lasagna/fried chicken all made right in the kitchen by the ladies in the hair nets.
I remember my kids were given basically TV dinner style meals that were just warmed up by the school. I can't imagine how bad they are today.
LightRoasted
If I may ...
For your consideration ...
All courtesy of the winning low bidder. Only unhealthy highly processed and gmo foods are served in today's public schools.
lucky_bee
RBF expert
My 15 year old enjoyed the free lunch. We never let him buy lunch before because packing it is cheaper and we're on a budget. He's usually either too lazy to pack lunch, or doesn't really eat it and throws it out (no matter how many times I beg him to quit wasting food). In middle school I'd find lunches WEEKS old at the bottom of his backpack 
Honestly for awhile I didn't buy him much for packed lunches because of this. Getting free lunches every day at least got him a meal in there and he wouldn't eat ALL the snacks the moment he got home. It kind of saved my sanity for a bit. I have to beg him every week for an idea on stuff I can grab him from the store, its like pulling teeth, only to have him decide 4 days later he doesn't like that or he's too lazy to pack it and it just gets moldy in the fridge. He's old enough to figure it out - if he's hungry it's his own fault at this point.
He made his lunch last night but we'll see how long this lasts.
Honestly for awhile I didn't buy him much for packed lunches because of this. Getting free lunches every day at least got him a meal in there and he wouldn't eat ALL the snacks the moment he got home. It kind of saved my sanity for a bit. I have to beg him every week for an idea on stuff I can grab him from the store, its like pulling teeth, only to have him decide 4 days later he doesn't like that or he's too lazy to pack it and it just gets moldy in the fridge. He's old enough to figure it out - if he's hungry it's his own fault at this point.He made his lunch last night but we'll see how long this lasts.
ginwoman
Well-Known Member
That sounds very frustratingMy 15 year old enjoyed the free lunch. We never let him buy lunch before because packing it is cheaper and we're on a budget. He's usually either too lazy to pack lunch, or doesn't really eat it and throws it out (no matter how many times I beg him to quit wasting food). In middle school I'd find lunches WEEKS old at the bottom of his backpack
He made his lunch last night but we'll see how long this lasts.
NorthBeachPerso
Honorary SMIB
I think a lot of us had those type of "dinners for lunch". Where I lived was really rural so it may have been following the old farm meal schedule:
Get up in the morning and go work. Then eat breakfast and go work some more. Have a big meal at lunch (dinner) and then go work some more. Then eat supper and then finish any work you didn't get done earlier or something your parents decided you needed to do "just to stay busy".
That's my memory of school lunches, all the way through high school. Soups and stew in the winter, too.
I loved the stewed tomatoes with a tiny crouton on top that came in a little paper cup
lucky_bee
RBF expert
beyond frustrating. but he's a good kid otherwise. I've learned to overlook his laziness when it comes to meal prep. I've taught him the skills on how to, so at 15/16 it's on him now.
Clem72
Well-Known Member
I never got those. We did have Pigs in a blanket and corn chowder. I think the only thing I didn't care for was spaghetti, which was kind of rubbery (and never really been my thing).
3CATSAILOR
Well-Known Member
Yeah, junk food is probably served now as what the public schools call "healthy food". lol
My kids are past the school age, but we always provided them with healthy well-balanced meals growing up. If they're not eating right now, it's on them.
I had a racket going. We had $.45 lunches (also the price of Marlboros at Frank Morris' Carryout) in middle school. I'd by 2 Charms Blow Pops for $.05 each and trade them for 2 lunch tickets. I would sell the other ticket for $.25 and pocket a cool $.15 after initial investment was accounted for. That set me up for the next go round and a profit of $.05 every day.
The $.45 from the parents for lunch everyday was free and clear.
Grumpy
Well-Known Member
My racket in jr hi was selling gum. There used to be a brand that had 2 sticks of gum for a penny..I would split them and sell them for a nickel apiece. Got busted and parents called, I remember telling my father that I didn't force them to pay 5 cents, why am I in trouble?? He just said stop it, never an explanation of what I did wrong from him or the school.I had a racket going. We had $.45 lunches (also the price of Marlboros at Frank Morris' Carryout) in middle school. I'd by 2 Charms Blow Pops for $.05 each and trade them for 2 lunch tickets. I would sell the other ticket for $.25 and pocket a cool $.15 after initial investment was accounted for. That set me up for the next go round and a profit of $.05 every day.
The $.45 from the parents for lunch everyday was free and clear.
When I was in about 2nd grade I would go down to the ditch and pick cat tails (the plant, people!), then I would tear them apart and put them in baggies. I sold them for 50 cents a bag. My friends somehow thought it was rabbit fur. I got my butt bruised when my mom found out from other parents.
Your dad was NOT a capitalist, that is why.
PeoplesElbow
Well-Known Member
The day they served pizza it was good, the everyday alternative pizza was some shitty sauce and fake cheese on a cracker like crust. Other than pizza day everyone looked forward to pepperoni roll day as their bread was pretty good. I can't think of anything else I liked, the spaghetti was just plain nasty, slop scooped up with an ice cream scoop. I was in public school from 1979 to 1992 btw.
My dad use to yell at me for not wanting to eat the school food until the day we had a band fund raiser spaghetti dinner, he insisted we go, they slop his on his plate, gave him some wilted salad with a sliced tomato on top of it. "I said eat up dad, here is that good school food you keep telling me about." All he said was "I won't yell at you any more about the schools food." He did grow up really poor on a pig farm (that white privilege upbringing you know) where the only part of the pig they kept for themselves was the head, hooves, and tail and their salad was the dandelion greens that his dad sent him out to gather.
I use to think maybe the kids I met at college had a far different experience with public school food because they complained about the colleges food, which I thought was pretty darn good for mass quantity food, it actually resembled real food.
My dad use to yell at me for not wanting to eat the school food until the day we had a band fund raiser spaghetti dinner, he insisted we go, they slop his on his plate, gave him some wilted salad with a sliced tomato on top of it. "I said eat up dad, here is that good school food you keep telling me about." All he said was "I won't yell at you any more about the schools food." He did grow up really poor on a pig farm (that white privilege upbringing you know) where the only part of the pig they kept for themselves was the head, hooves, and tail and their salad was the dandelion greens that his dad sent him out to gather.
I use to think maybe the kids I met at college had a far different experience with public school food because they complained about the colleges food, which I thought was pretty darn good for mass quantity food, it actually resembled real food.
PeoplesElbow
Well-Known Member
I talked a fellow student into selling fundraiser candy bars for $2 instead of the $1 the school wanted and pocketing the extra $1. He got busted and told the principal I told him to do it, I got a really stern talking to, but no real punishment.