LAUSD Students Hate New Award-Winning, Healthy School Lunches, Black Market for Cheetos and Ramen Springs Up

(Photo via KFINews/Twitpic)

LAUSD students hate the new lunch menu.

The district has received awards for improving lunches from the U.S.D.A and from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, but the students literally aren't having it. Participation in the lunch program is down, lots of food is being thrown away, kids are coming to class hungry and L.A. Unified's food services director, Dennis Barrett, acknowledged the rollout of the new menu was a "disaster," according to the Los Angeles Times.

When the district tested out the menu, it found that 75 percent of students liked the food, but the food at the taste-test did not have translate well to mass production. One student the Times spoke with Andre Jahchan, a 16-year-old at Esteban Torres High School, said the food was "super good" at the tasting but it was super gross on campus: the chicken pozole was watery, the vegetable tamale was burned and the noodles were soggy.

Adults have been selling "black market" candy, chips and instant noodles to hungry students, who have been ditching lunch and suffering from headaches, stomach pains and even anemia, the Times reports.

So the district announced that it's going to make some changes. It's not bringing back candy milk or the junkiest food, but it's hoping to keep some of what worked on the new menu — vegetarian tamales and salads — and get rid of what didn't: "exotic" foods like beef jambalaya, vegetable curry, pad Thai and bringing back some familiar flavors. Hamburgers are back on the menu and so is pizza, but with a whole wheat crust, low sodium sauce and low-fat cheese.

"We're going to stay the course on healthy food," said food service deputy director David Binkle.

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By Emma G. Gallegos in Food on December 18, 2011 11:00 AM 0 Comments

Comments [rss]

Alexandria Ramirez

What they need to do is hire culinary professionals to staff the kitchens. Our government could save so much money by having the food made in house from scratch. Why not convert available space on the school grounds to an organic garden/farm? Each class takes care of a section daily and the school cooks can prepare the meals from the garden. It would teach children valuable skills, the food will taste better and be healthier. What happened to the days of 4H club?

letusberealistic

i so miss the lunch ladies scooping up the food from the hot trays. i'd rather have my child eat half a greasy pizza and a handful of tater tots than get butternut squash ravioli and raw zucchini sticks just so she can toss it. obesity begins in the home. let our kids enjoy a tasty meal at school without it having to be a strict diet. include exercise within the childs day. those that care so much about health can pack it. i'm all for healthy foods, but not if it's being wasted. also please add more chicken to the menu and less beef. why is it mainly beef or veggies? just because we don't eat beef doesn't make us vegetarians.

Smeghead52

Much of the problem too comes with how the food is prepared. School kitchen need to have actual cooking going an and not just warming up some gruel that's prepared in a commissary some where.

bo_burger

A bummer. 1st off there was no real support for this within the food program. Before they even started serving the new chow the lunch ladies acted all sad because the kids would be hungry since they would never eat this food yadda, yadda.

2nd, as pointed out above, these menu items did not really resemble the food they were named after. A boy we know was so excited to be getting pad thai at school but came home saying they were served waffles that day instead! The reason?: the noodles were just a square brick served warm.

Regardless, you are not going to get kids from all over the city and all different backgrounds, to get used to new foods over night. And as it is the lunch environment at these school isn't the best for getting kids to focus on eating.

jenniecook

here's my idea that I've been pushing since September 2010 - KILL THE LUNCH PROGRAM!! Open a cold food canteen AS SOON AS THE KIDS COME TO SCHOOL! Serve fresh fruits, rice beans, oatmeal, salads, string cheese.... Keep it open until 12:30 - so kids can go on their free period. Solve the food access issue.
Stuff them with whole foods and watch what happens - I told them pad thai was a stupid idea. Curry for kids... come on - rice and beans rule! Come on David and Dennis - BUST A MOVE!!

Alberto Brian Vega

addicts don't like meth, prefer the real stuff. Adults are selling carbs, sugar, and salt to the kids. I'm sure (recall) that lunches can get totally messed up in the delivery. It's not just the recipes but the fact that the food isn't Made at school. It's cooked, shipped and reheated later - not a winning strategy but the alternative is, we're told and I don't disbelieve it, pretty darn expensive. Give them fruit, raw veggies, and for something hot? Pizza. Totally. Whatever, give 'em pizza and sloppy joe's but but limit other sides to raw fruit and raw veggies. Also, don't cut gym or give kids excuses for opting out: they can't run? Have 'em do curls, etc. Have 'em DO something every day.

dcbsky

The enterprising students deserve props for finding a way around the micro-managing nannies of LAUSD and turning a profit with it ! DOUBLE FAIL for the statist goons, hahaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!

Spokker

Yeah, LAUSD students aren't so stupid after all. I would love to analyze the black market for junk food they've created to see how sophisticated it is. It's good practice for when they graduate into drug dealing after LAUSD and their parents fail them.

Orbitgal Martin

maybe find some recipes that actually taste good...did anyone think to ask parents for their homemade recipes for this stuff? and beef jambalaya is NOT exotic for heaven's sake! geez...restaurants have been making food for the masses for a long time...why can't the schools? finally...how about using some of the money taxpayers get reamed for every year for schools to the kitchen? how hard is it to make a healthy lunch? pb&j is healthy...soup and crackers are healthy...veggie lasagna is healthy...ribs are healthy when done properly...get creative and ask parents for help...after all it's their kids the school are feeding...and cheetos once in awhile are not gonna kill anyone! teach kids moderation and we will be ok