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Posted to rec.food.cooking
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Op-ed: "The Real Problem With Lunch" (U.S. school lunches)
taxed and spent wrote:
> > wrote in message
> ...
> More than 400 comments so far. (26 of them are NYT Picks.)
>
> http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/16/op...unch.html?_r=0
>
> First paragraphs:
>
> By BETTINA ELIAS SIEGEL JAN. 15, 2016
>
> Houston -- There's something about comparing America's school food to the
> superior meals in other countries' schools that we seem to enjoy, in a
> masochistic sort of way.
>
> The latest example is Michael Moore's new documentary, "Where to Invade
> Next," which opens nationwide next month. Mr. Moore visits a village in
> Normandy and finds schoolchildren eating scallops, lamb skewers and a cheese
> course. He tells us, astonishingly, that the chef "spends less per lunch
> than we do in our schools in the United States," and ends the segment by
> showing French students and adults photos of the food served in a Boston
> high school. As they pore over the pictures in puzzlement and horror, we
> read subtitled comments like "Seriously, what is that?" and "Frankly, that's
> not food."
>
> That scene drew a lot of laughs, but as someone who has written about school
> food for almost six years, it made me want to scream in frustration. One
> might easily conclude from this segment that our students could have these
> same delicious meals, cooked from scratch, if only our school districts
> weren't cheap, mismanaged or somehow captive to the processed food industry.
> But the problem with America's school food has little to do with the schools
> themselves.
>
> Let's start with money. The federal government provides a little over $3 per
> student per lunch, and school districts receive a smaller contribution from
> their state. But districts generally require their food departments to pay
> their own overhead, including electricity, accounting and trash collection.
> Most are left with a dollar and change for food -- and no matter what Mr.
> Moore says, no one is buying scallops and lamb on that meager budget.
>
> Contrast this with France, where meal prices are tied to family income and
> wealthy parents can pay around $7 per meal. Give that sum to an American
> school food services director and you may want to have tissues handy as he's
> likely to break down in incredulous tears.
>
> Then there's labor and infrastructure...
>
> -----------------
>
> If you gave US schools $7 per meal, they would put the money to increased
> payroll and benefits. The food wouldn't improve one bit.
>
>
Ayup.
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