Slog - Comments on Who's Eating Your Lunch? http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/whos_eating_your_lunch Holy Taco has actual photos of actual school lunches that were posted onto the website of a Harrisonburg, VA school system. These photos are supposed to be advertisements in favor of the lunches. This reminded me of one of my most disgusting freelance assignments for this paper, when I reviewed Seattle-area school lunches. It turns out, the most disgusting thing that I ate for the assignment was something that the students would bring to school in lieu of eating the school lunches: Jane wisely didn't eat the school lunch. Ordinarily, she'd eat a sandwich that her mom made, but, due... Copyright 2008 Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:00:00 -0800 Tue, 19 Aug 2008 18:43:06 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by Emily I just ate. Can you put that behind a cut?

]]> Emily http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/whos_eating_your_lunch#c1107679 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/whos_eating_your_lunch#c1107679 Chow Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:01:55 -0800 Comment by Lloyd Clydesdale BBQ Poopables.

]]> Lloyd Clydesdale http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/whos_eating_your_lunch#c1107727 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/whos_eating_your_lunch#c1107727 Chow Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:06:44 -0800 Comment by Ziggity *adblocks image*

Holy taco, indeed...

]]> Ziggity http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/whos_eating_your_lunch#c1107844 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/whos_eating_your_lunch#c1107844 Chow Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:20:31 -0800 Comment by indieguy322 That holy taco link was the funniest/grossest/saddest thing imaginable.

]]> indieguy322 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/whos_eating_your_lunch#c1107909 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/whos_eating_your_lunch#c1107909 Chow Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:32:15 -0800 Comment by Will in Seattle How can kids afford this crap?

For lunch I had an organic apple from PCC. Most of my coworkers bring leftovers or grab something from Trader Joe's.

Very very sad.

]]> Will in Seattle http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/whos_eating_your_lunch#c1107962 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/whos_eating_your_lunch#c1107962 Chow Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:40:17 -0800 Comment by Gloria Kids LIKE to eat crap. They get excited going to TGIF and Denny's. That stuff makes me puke.

I usually take leftovers to work for lunch. Today, I had a fresh Viet sub. Cost me $1.75.

]]> Gloria http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/whos_eating_your_lunch#c1107996 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/whos_eating_your_lunch#c1107996 Chow Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:46:22 -0800 Comment by Andrew If you knew how little money those schools have to prepare lunches, you would be pretty impressed that they can manage even food like that.

With 60¢ per person, what could you manage to cook?

]]> Andrew http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/whos_eating_your_lunch#c1108038 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/whos_eating_your_lunch#c1108038 Chow Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:53:58 -0800 Comment by Hernandez @7 - Gruel. Sweet, nourishing gruel. And then you'd also have money left over.

]]> Hernandez http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/whos_eating_your_lunch#c1108055 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/whos_eating_your_lunch#c1108055 Chow Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:56:16 -0800 Comment by Fnarf Why do those "meatballs" say "BM" at the top? No, wait, I don't want to know.

Hernandez, if you give the little bitches gruel, the next thing you know they'll be demanding THICKER gruel.

Paste. Feed them paste. That's what I ate when I was a kid and look how great I turned out.

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/whos_eating_your_lunch#c1108101 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/whos_eating_your_lunch#c1108101 Chow Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:06:32 -0800 Comment by elswinger The school lunches I ate back in the 70s seemed like gourmet when compared to what kids have to eat today. Paul, you should come by my nursing home and review it. The staff hear thinks it's delicious (though they all go out to lunch) but i can't keep it down. I have lost 80 pounds since I got here last November.

]]> elswinger http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/whos_eating_your_lunch#c1108115 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/whos_eating_your_lunch#c1108115 Chow Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:08:26 -0800 Comment by Will in Seattle @6 - all the Viet subs I can find cost a few million ... except for the one that McCain gave his speech from. Did you mean that one?

]]> Will in Seattle http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/whos_eating_your_lunch#c1108135 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/whos_eating_your_lunch#c1108135 Chow Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:15:36 -0800 Comment by elswinger The local news last night said some school districts will be raising the cost of school lunches this fall by up to 70%! (To almost $5 a day). At $25 a week give me a jar of Skippy, a jar of Strawberry Jelly, some bread, chips, and milk and I'd be happy (and have about $10 left)!

]]> elswinger http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/whos_eating_your_lunch#c1108573 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/whos_eating_your_lunch#c1108573 Chow Tue, 19 Aug 2008 15:48:35 -0800 Comment by papillon Back when I was in school, I considered school lunch a gourmet meal. It was all good. On some days you could even have seconds. But that extra milk always cost you a nickel. I don't think I ever did pay back any of those nickels I borrowed from the other kids.

]]> papillon http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/whos_eating_your_lunch#c1108690 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/whos_eating_your_lunch#c1108690 Chow Tue, 19 Aug 2008 16:36:57 -0800 Comment by Silverstar98121 Well, it was better than those meatballs look, even the pink worms they called spaghetti. But the chili and cinnamon rolls were awesome! I couldn't get down the hominy, though, still won't eat it.
@10 Having worked in nursing homes I'm not surprised. Last I knew, but that was years ago now, the budget for feeding nursing home patients was about $1/day. Not a meal, a day. It's probably up to $1.50/day, less than the spending on school lunches. Blame government cuts to Medicaid, which pays the way for most nursing home residents.

]]> Silverstar98121 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/whos_eating_your_lunch#c1108782 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/whos_eating_your_lunch#c1108782 Chow Tue, 19 Aug 2008 17:15:11 -0800 Comment by banjoboy "cheese-filled pizza sticks" "Italian Dunkers" "spaghetti" "Italian Chicken Sandwich"?

I would rather gatecrash Tony Soprano's birthday party, call his mother a $2 Gypsy whore and ask him why he's the only castrato in history who can't sing, than try to explain this shit to an Italian. I'm surprised they haven't withdrawn their ambassador in protest.

Jamie Oliver did a great series in Britain where he tried to provide decent school food on budget (i.e. next to nothing). And revealed that in Italy, they actually consider it important to feed kids high quality food - by law tomatoes and olive oil used in school food must be organic/extra virgin... kind of mind-blowing as a contrast!

]]> banjoboy http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/whos_eating_your_lunch#c1108808 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/whos_eating_your_lunch#c1108808 Chow Tue, 19 Aug 2008 17:56:33 -0800 Comment by Fnarf Yeah, and Oliver was vilified for it. Mothers were literally squeezing burgers and chips through the chain link at the school gates. And if you're familiar with what Brits will tolerate under the name of "burger", you still have no idea how badly those people crave garbage. It's ironic that Brits have, in London, developed one of the most sophisticated food cultures in the world, because the run-of-the-mill Brit diet is among the worst in the world, far worse than the average American's. Most Brits have literally never eaten a green vegetable unless it was boiled to death in a curry. Have a look at You Are What You Eat on BBC America sometime -- it's shocking.

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/whos_eating_your_lunch#c1108814 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/whos_eating_your_lunch#c1108814 Chow Tue, 19 Aug 2008 18:16:13 -0800 Comment by banjoboy @16 I was amazed that he managed to shock some kids out of eating chicken nuggets just by showing them what they were made of!

My memory of English school dinners in the early 80s is of dull but at least slightly nutritious food -- stew, mashed potatoes, baked beans, boiled cabbage -- and always a square of cake with custard for 'afters'. But watching that series it seems now 90% of it is deep-fried.

]]> banjoboy http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/whos_eating_your_lunch#c1108821 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/whos_eating_your_lunch#c1108821 Chow Tue, 19 Aug 2008 18:43:06 -0800