Somewhere between $.23 and $2.57. That’s how much the federal government reimburses schools for every lunch they serve. Just where each school falls in that wide window depends on the percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-cost lunch. Add in the $2 or less that students pay for lunch and you still haven’t got much to work with. (As I type, I’m having very vivid flashbacks to a time when I clutched a solitary quarter in my kindergarten fist, determined not to drop it before I handed it to the lunch lady.)
But here’s some heartwarming news: Parents get it. When we asked readers of our weekly e-newsletter, Minnesota Parent This Week, what they think of their kids’ school lunch, we did get a handful of responses that amounted to, "It sucks." But the overwhelming majority said, "They do the best they can." (Read more responses on page 5.) Many public schools are operating with very restricted budgets, even as the cost of raw materials skyrockets. Some have kitchens and staff that, frankly, aren’t equipped to ditch the frozen chicken nuggets and canned vegetables for fresher alternatives.
Somebody else who said, essentially, "Schools are doing the best they can, and they could use a little boost" is Seth Bixby Daugherty, a professional chef who has moved his career out of up-scale kitchens and into schools. On page 12 Minnesota Parent talked to Chef Seth about what he found in school kitchens and what inspired him to lend a hand.
Which gets me to thinking. We’re parents. We cook, we run household budgets, we read labels, and we know what our kids like (well, what they like this week). How could we lend a hand in our schools? Are you working with your school on this issue? Send me an e-mail at tcornell@mnpubs.com and let me know.
