Chicago school bans lunches brought from home

It's $2 at my son's elementary school, and while there are plenty of nutritious options on most days, some days it's stuff like nachos or mozzarella sticks or pretzels with cheese dip (the latter two are actually main dish choices on occasion). We don't even give him the option when it's that type of stuff. Give me a break that for the most part school lunches are more nutritious. Plus, this isn't a decision for a school to make. It's a parent's.

 

Every Friday we had butter sandwiches and tomato soup. It's like something served in a refugee camp. It was after one of those meals I decided to start going home. But I think we too had some good grilled cheese.

 

The only times I remember throwing up in school were after I had finished the school lunch.

Looking back though, the only thing I regret was the amount of soda I had with my lunches. It did a nasty number on my teeth.

 

Loaf of bread costs $3, a pack of lunchmeat about the same. Say you get 20 sandwiches out of each, that's about 35 cents per sandwich. Throw in a banana or an apple that costs about a quarter, and one of those flavor packets that you mix in with a bottle of water (20 cents). As a bonus, a lot of the flavor packets are sugar free.
Total cost: $1.15, not counting the bag (can be eliminated with a reusable lunch box or one of those cooler bags) and condiments (negligible cost).

 

How the hell do you get 20 sandwiches out of a pack of lunch meat? Unless each sandwich has like half a slice of meat on it, I don't see that being possible.

 

I would guess that most of the students of this school are eligible for a free lunch:

 

Bologna, cheese, mustard and lettuce on white; chips; a pickle and maybe a couple of cookies -- packed for me damn near every day for 10 eight years from first through eighth grade. Didn't get fat until I drank in college.

 

You're right. My math was off. I was thinking about 20 pieces of bread per loaf. Works out to maybe a dozen sandwiches. The lunchmeat is based on a one-pound package, with two pieces per sandwich.
The new formula ups the price to about $1.50 per lunch. Not quite $1.25, unless you drink water and skip the fruit, but still in the ballpark. Probably just as healthy as what the cafeteria serves, too.

 

I don't think I ever once ate the lunches from my school cafeteria, and my mom worked for the school. I did get chips and cookies. I also got juice and fruit, so I probably broke even nutritionally.

It does seem like some kind of bizarre budgetary attempt to get more free/reduced lunch funds. I've never heard of a school doing this, though I'm several years removed from public schools and don't have kids of my own. Maybe it is "common" now, but it'd surprise me.

The revolutionary kid in the lede is fabulous.

 

Many of these school districts now contract out cafeteria services to private companies, FYI.

 

Chartwells, the company mentioned in the article, is a part of the Compass Group, the largest food service company in the world:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compass_Group

 

Less nanny-state, more coporate state.

Start with Chartwells-Thompson, the company profiting off this, and follow the money.

Its parent company is Compass Group North America. That company owns brands such as Burger King, Chick-fil-A, Subway, and Pizza Hut.

So I'm sure a fast-food company is providing delicious and nutritious school lunches.

According to this article (http://www.indianapolisrecorder.com/health/article_ada4286f-2fd1-5f7f-8c06-ddabc4b485b7.html) their Chicago food service contract is worth $32 million a year.

Here's Chartwell's own magazine. Read it to learn about how awesome they are:

http://eatlearnlive.com/youfirst/News/chartwells-magazine-mar%5B1%5D.pdf

Someone could probably earn a Pulitzer uncovering all the corruption that's going on here. I'll bet everyone on here a year of these school lunches that there's plenty to be found.