Chefs Declare Assault on Chicken Nuggets and Other School Lunches

Dear Frances,
None of the school meals are prepared on site. They are prepared at a central location and reheated on site.

The cafeteria workers in our district are lucky they can spell their own names, let alone cook a meal.

But it IS NOT IMPOSSIBLE to cook for that number of people daily. The military does it every day--so do college dining halls.

Schools do the cheapest and most expedient thing at all times. You're a teacher and you don't know that? Come teach in the inner city schools of southern CA. It will be a wake-up call.

I totally agree. In Midland, Texas they have "Frito Pie" as a main course, complete with soy meat and processed liquid cheese. They also sell sugary power drinks (for a profit.) No wonder the kids are overweight and undernourished.

I worked on a cruise ship in the crew mess for 2 contracts. We cooked breakfast, lunch, dinner and midnight snack for 800 crew members each day, and the food was usually better than the passengers got, made with much cheaper ingredients. We also did this one entire contract with only 4 cooks, so don't say it can't be done. Hire competent people for a living wage and feed these kids real food.

C'mon Frances,

The entire time I attended school -- K--12-- the lunches were "home made." I went to school in New York. The cafeteria had their OWN recipes. Perhaps we can contact Sachem School District No. 5 on Long Island, NY and ask for help. I think it was the trend of the times to resort to chicken MC nuggets? That's aaaalllll they'll eat I can hear Mom's say. Or perhaps it was JUST easier; then the trend morfed into the school system. Well, given the current "education" we have about processed foods, chemicals, cancer, and obesity perhaps it's NO it's difinitely TIME for a change. We need good, fresh, wholesome, tasty FOOD. NOT a reincarnation of a pseudo food. PERIOD.

I run a food lunch program for a school district and the problem is the budget of what you have to work with. You typically have a meal that has a price point of 2.50 and government commodities to compensate the cost.

The problem with most lunch programs are people not using the commodities effectively. First of all you get your money based on the count from the year before and have to have your meals basically planed out by summer for next year. Most of your money will go into cheese and milk (very expensive items) with the rest going toward center of the plate items (chicken nuggets). I don't spend my money on chicken nuggets, instead I buy whole chickens and taught my staff how to cut them. Will every food director do this? Ah, no to put it politely. I felt it was worth it. Some director's don't even look at commodities as money spent which is a HUGE problem. At one meeting I went to a lady spent 30000.00 on ketchup!! She said she had to use up her money and didn't know what else to buy. WOW! Do you think this lady knows how to cut a whole chicken? I would bet she is serving all this pre-processed crap to the students because she doesn't understand the culinary part of the position, jut the paperwork part. Very sad.

I totally agree about the chicken nuggets - and other things as well. Someone needs to take on the USDA big time - how stupid are they when they consider a potato a vegetable. If they would add more real vegetables to their "lists", it would not only help the children but I'm sure it would help the farmers as well.

Personally, I have always packed my girls lunches - they didn't like the school lunch and finally when the first went to high school where they tend to serve more mainstream junk food, the lines were too long and she didn't want to wait in them...so I even packed her lunches through her senior year! I think that the schools should do away with lunches PERIOD! Let kids bring their lunch as my youngest's school does. They do not provide lunch either. This way you can ensure that your kids are eating for one thing and that it is food you want them to have. And before you whine about the kids who only eat at school, which is part of another major problem that needs overhauling, just provide them with a prepacked lunch (you can get them healthy, sandwich, apple, milk (white), and a small bag of chips or something of that sort)...No one needs a HOT lunch, etc...or breakfast (cereal with milk and a fruit is sufficient)...LOOK at all the $$$$ they would SAVE!!!!!!!!!

Come on people wake up!!!!! Do you really think that the school cafe workers are to blame? It's all about politics, the person with the money provides our students with their food. How do you expect for school lunches to be made fresh and prepared with all natural ingredients when 75% of the school is having free or reduce lunch. Let's stop picking on the cafeteria and point the blame where it should be, which is the school system that is failing our students. Instead of going outside we are focusing on studying for a test that determines if your promoted or not.

I have seen many cafeterias with horrible food, but their are some with amazing. My mother has been a school cafeteria manager for 20+ years, and she offers food that is prepared the right way. She believes why feed a child food you wouldn't give your own.

Let's not be quick to bash the school cafeteria when for some children this is the only meal they get.

Frankly, don't you think that there are plenty of other issues in schools that should be addressed by Mrs. Obama that should take priority to chicken nuggets? What about drug use and abuse? Alcohol use and abuse? Persistent texting? High illiteracy rates? I'm not sure that chicken nuggets is really worth the time or effort to be addressed by the president's wife. I also teach school and agree with everyone who says that if the parents don't agree with the school's menu, then pack a lunch.

I'm in college and i can honestly say the food hasn't gotten much better and even the lovely staff that works in our food areas know how bad it is. I'm working on my thrid year and we've had two different companies, which i won't mention. We understand the budget, we understand the time restraints along with the hinderance of possibly incompetent workers, who may i say always try, but what about these companies that are feeding us. I'd be overjoyed if some company decided to rework all their food they knew would be going to children. there are tons of ways to cook food these days, find a healthier way! for all those comments about bringing your own lunch, take a look at the other comments about those kids who can't afford to do so. I work 2 jobs while i go to school, my mother is a single mom with my sister in highschool and my sister and i both depend on school meals, the only difference is i end up paying for it one way or another.I'm not saying give the government all the power, but that food you buy at the supermarket, unless you have a garden or you're going to a farmers market, who do you think controls it....i'd start by watching a super helpful movie called Food Inc.

If you are a teacher and you don't let your own kids eat in school why don't you try to do a difference ? in Hungary ALL kids get food in school where the chefs usually only one and helpers, cook for them and the rest is being sold for the retired community!!!

My son eats most anything and he refuses to eat the New York City School food. It's nasty he says. Pizza is the only edible thing on the menu and you want to take a stab at how much salt is in it? How can we teach the kids to eat right then they get a bottle of salt for lunch. As Jamie Oliver showed on his program, with some energy and creativity, we can feed the kids right and within budget. Our school is getting a food consultant to try and bring in organic food to the kids.

Look at it this way, if they make food that the kids will eat and it's healthy, then maybe more parents would encourage they're kids to have school lunch instead of most of the "subsidized" kids and we'd have more money covering the cost. When the salad is fresh the kids will eat it. When the carrots sog like boiled spinach they won't eat it.

It is really sad what is in our school lunches, I agree.
Jamie Oliver is tackling a major issue in West Virgina. As a retired chef I am appalled at what I see. The excuses of this is what we can afford, this is on the approved list for a balanced meal is a farce at best.
Yet, the problem lies with money and the lack of education on the part of school administrations. We can give all the help we want, dietitians, chefs, training for staff ect.. Without the money and education of principals, lunch room administrators and school boards, we will not over come the junk food, fast food society in which our child grow up and try to survive.
What is the answer, God maybe the only one that knows. I do not envy Mrs. Obama, Rachael Ray and the others who have chosen to take this on. I am willing to support them in anyway on this matter. GOOD LUCK and HELP SAVE OUR CHILDREN!

As a chef that has run the school food program for the Berkely Institute in Bermuda and now the food service program for a Major league ball team on strict budgets I see the answer in two parts.
1. For the schools that do not have a kitchen. The city should set up a central commisary to make and send out fresh meals daily, $2.68 per person is plenty of money to make a full fresh and square meal daily especially when you consider the volume.
2. For the schools with kitchens there should be a monthly meal plan with all the schools using the same recipe book made up of simple and easy to make items that the kids will love, comfort foods do not have to be unhealthy.
Years ago myself and others set up a commisary kitchen using kids right out of the correctional boot camps and was funded by the state, these kids were great and we used the kitchen as a cooking school for them and a commisary for meals on wheels, When the kids graduated out, we had no problem finding them jobs because the state funded 1/2 of their wages so the employers loved the program, we were about 6 month out to be able to be self sufficiant and then the state cut us out of the budget!

The problem of student lunch is not something that will be tackled overnight. Like all school problems we can find the root of the problem and the solution has to come from home. If parents complained about the quality of the food,it might just change. schools listen to parents not the children or the staff. Until parents care enough about their children's health to at least lodge a complaint, things will remain the same. It is up to parents to see to it that their children are well fed. I packed my child's lunch. We were a low income family. It was a choice that I made to help my child. It all about choices. We choose to feed our children poor quality food. Plain and simple.

Sadly all of this money being spent on this campaign should be spent on the meals since the "healthy" food costs more. It is the same way in the homes of poor people as well who do or don't recieve food stamps..... people cannot afford to eat "healthy" sadly

Why does it seem that most everyone seems to belive that children buying a school lunch is a new phenom? Children as far back as the 1950's have had lunches provided for them buy the schools. Back then Freshly cooked and healthy meals were served. It is only since schools have been under constant pressure to reduce bugets that the lunches we serve our students has turned to $#!%.

We as a society DO NOT VALUE THE EDUCATION SYSTEM OR OUR YOUTH. everything is undercut when YOU vote down the tax increase: teacher and staff salries, extra curriculars the lunch programs. In an effort to reduce cost school districts farm out everything they can to outside companies. Lunch programs janitorial service even subtitute teaching are left to Corperate interest. These ouside soces may cost less but that is because the sevice provided is not as good.

YOU GET WHAT YOU ARE WILLING TO PAY FOR

What about the kids whose parents cannot afford lunch/breakfast? Millions of kids are fed by the US government daily. If the school does not provide the meal, these children don't eat. As a teacher and former caterer, I too do not understand why schools cannot serve better quality food. The food is just awful and the kids do not eat half of it. Where is the fresh fruit, freshly prepared entrees and healthy choices? How DOES this food get by inspectors and meet US health guidelines? Ask your board of ed!!