school lunches

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Watchdog Finds Parents Surprised by School Lunch Fee

There's a way around the charge, report says, but not much transparency about it

(Newser) - Rebecca Wood, 45, was already dealing with high medical bills in 2020 when she noticed she was being charged a $2.49 "program fee" each time she loaded money onto her daughter's school lunch account. As more schools turn to cashless payment systems, more districts have contracted with...

Consumer Reports: Lunchables Unsafe for School Lunch

14K sign petition calling for their removal from school lunch program

(Newser) - Lunchables contain lead and unhealthy levels of sodium, according to testing by Consumer Reports , which has launched a petition urging the Department of Agriculture to remove the snack kits from the school meal program it oversees. Two versions of the Kraft Heinz kits were made available last year as part...

Middle School's Black History Month Lunch Raises Eyebrows
Vendor Serves Up Another
'Insensitive' School Lunch
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Feb 11, 2023 4:20 PM CST

Vendor Serves Up Another 'Insensitive' School Lunch

Chicken and waffles, watermelon served at middle school during Black History Month by Aramark

(Newser) - Philly cheesesteak, broccoli, and fruit were supposed to be on the lunch menu at a New York middle school on Wednesday. Instead, a food vendor is now apologizing after serving an entirely different lunch at Nyack Middle School that day, which also happened to be the first day of Black...

2 States to Provide Free Meals in Schools, Regardless of Need

Maine follows California's lead with effort to fight hunger, help learning

(Newser) - Starting in the new school year, California will provide breakfast and lunch to any public school student who wants a meal, free of charge—regardless of family income. The offer also is good for students in county offices of education and charter schools with students in transitional kindergarten to grade...

School Meal Programs Face 'Perfect Storm'

Federal waivers are expiring as inflation is soaring

(Newser) - Federal waivers that allowed schools to serve free lunches to all students are about to expire, and advocates fear that will lead to millions of children going hungry. Congress authorized the US Department of Agriculture waivers early in the pandemic, helping ward off a potential spike in child hunger. Under...

School Plans to Search Students for Excess Snacks

Pennsylvania district faces backlash over 'lunch police' plan

(Newser) - A Pennsylvania school district's plan to strictly enforce limits on snacks has divided parents, with some praising the move and others denouncing the "Lunch Police." In a Facebook post last week, the Aliquippa School District said students at Aliquippa Junior/Senior High School would have their bags searched...

USDA: School Lunch Proposal Is Efficient. Critics: 'Unconscionable'

Department wants schools to be able to cut mandates on fruits and veggies, offer more pizza

(Newser) - Michelle Obama turned 56 Friday, but one unwelcome gift came in the form of a new Trump proposal that would strike further at one of her most well-known initiatives as first lady: healthier school lunches. Per the Washington Post , the Department of Agriculture on Friday released proposed mandates on "...

Cafeteria Workers Toss Meals of Students With $15 Lunch Debt

The Minnesota incident was caught on video, and the school has apologized

(Newser) - Students with more than $15 of lunch debt who went through the cafeteria line at Minnesota's Richfield High School had their hot meals taken off their trays, thrown in the trash, and replaced with cold lunches when cafeteria workers saw the amount of debt on their accounts. The incident...

Trade War Brings Bonus Food to Schools

USDA is buying, giving away food to help farmers

(Newser) - School lunch menus already have Meatless Mondays and Taco Tuesdays. Now some may get Trade Mitigation Thursdays. This fall, some US school cafeterias are expecting shipments of free food, one little-known consequence of President Trump's trade disputes. The products are coming from the Department of Agriculture, which is giving...

CEO Tries to Pay Kids' Lunch Debt, Is Refused
CEO Tries to Pay Kids'
Lunch Debt, Is Refused
in case you missed it
Jul 27, 2019 12:30 PM CDT

CEO Tries to Pay Kids' Lunch Debt, Is Refused

La Colombe CEO Todd Carmichael said school district won't take his $22K

(Newser) - In Todd Carmichael's eyes, it's another outrageous turn in an already outrageous story. The CEO of La Colombe coffee says that he wants to pony up $22,467.76 to wipe out the school-lunch debts of kids within the Wyoming Valley West School District—a Pennsylvania district that...

District Does U-Turn on Offer to Pay Lunch Debt

School board apologizes for foster care threat

(Newser) - In a move possibly related to widespread criticism and media coverage, a school district in Pennsylvania has done a U-turn on a CEO's offer to erase $22,467.76 in school-lunch debt. The Wyoming Valley West School District now says it will accept La Colombe Coffee CEO Todd Carmichael'...

Letter to Parents: Pay Lunch Debt, or We'll Take Your Kids

Pennsylvania school district warns that children could be placed in foster care for neglect

(Newser) - The Wyoming Valley West School District in Pennsylvania really, really wants parents to pay off any debt they owe over their children's school lunches. In a letter mailed to about 1,000 parents, the district threatened that parents might lose custody of their children if they don't pay...

Mom: Fired Lunch Lady Tried to Drag My Son Into Cover-Up
Now Slamming Fired Lunch
Lady: Mom of the Boy She Fed
the rundown
May 22, 2019 9:55 AM CDT

Now Slamming Fired Lunch Lady: Mom of the Boy She Fed

Story out of New Hampshire involving Bonnie Kimball has some new twists

(Newser) - A New Hampshire school cafeteria worker was fired after giving a student free food when he reportedly didn't have enough money to pay for it, and then, after national media attention, she rebuffed the school vendor's offer to rehire her. Now, some new twists involving Bonnie Kimball, from...

She Was Fired for Feeding a Student. Now, a New Offer

But New Hampshire's Bonnie Kimball simply isn't interested in getting her job back

(Newser) - A company has offered to rehire a New Hampshire school cafeteria worker it fired for giving a student lunch for free, but she isn't interested. Bonnie Kimball said she was terminated March 28 by Fresh Picks, a vendor that supplies food to the Mascoma Valley Regional High School in...

Kids With Lunch Debt to Get Cold Sandwiches: District

They used to be served a hot meal like everyone else

(Newser) - Owe lunch money to Warwick Public Schools? Then you'll be eating cold sun butter and jelly sandwiches every day until it's paid up, rather than getting a hot meal, the Rhode Island school district announced over the weekend. Kids will also be allowed to go back to hot...

Big Gift From Philando Castile's Mom to Students in Debt

Valerie Castile presents $8K donation to Minneapolis-area school to pay seniors' lunch tabs

(Newser) - It's been almost three years since the police shooting death of Philando Castile in Minnesota, and while the upcoming anniversary will be a sad one, the memory of the generous cafeteria supervisor continues to inspire good. Castile's mom, Valerie Castile, offered up a check Thursday for $8,000...

After Trump's Rollback, It's 'Back to the Other Saltines'

School cafeterias no longer have to stick to whole grains

(Newser) - Is white bread about to make a comeback on school lunch menus? After complaints about taste and costs, the Trump administration rolled back a requirement that foods like pasta and bread be made with whole grains, the AP reports. Cafeteria directors who lobbied for the change say they just want...

Trump Administration Puts Biscuits Back on the School Lunch Menu

Refined grains, low-fat chocolate milk are once again OK

(Newser) - The national school lunch program is making room on menus again for noodles, biscuits, tortillas, and other foods made mostly of refined grains. The Trump administration is scaling back contested school lunch standards implemented under the Obama administration including one that required only whole grains be served, the AP reports....

Dad Devastated by School Lunch Shaming Takes Action

Jeffrey Lew wants to pay off lunch debt for every student in Washington state

(Newser) - Jeffrey Lew never wants a child to be shamed on the school cafeteria line again. That's why the Seattle dad of three has been hard at work fundraising, with one goal in mind: to pay down the school lunch debt of every student in the state of Washington. Today....

One US State Just Outlawed 'Lunch Shaming' in Schools

'We have to separate the child from a debt they have no power to pay'

(Newser) - Last month at a school in Arizona, a cafeteria worker stamped a second-grader's arm with the phrase "lunch money" after it was discovered he didn't have enough money in his meal account. "He was humiliated," his mother tells BuzzFeed . Elsewhere in the country, children who...

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