# What is your K-12 school lunch menu like? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 2, 2005, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-k-12-school-lunch-menu-like/302147 "2005-05-02T22:57:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-k-12-school-lunch-menu-like/302147/1 "2005-05-02T22:57:30Z")
What’s the food like and what does it cost at your school or your kids’ school (K-12)? I’m trying to compare what our local school serves and charges to other places. Here’s the menu for last Friday for the K to 12 grades: It’s called a “hot lunch”, but 3 of the four non-beverage items were cold.[ul][li]corn chips with nacho cheese dip[_]cold pears in syrup[_]cold raw carrot pieces[_]warm breaded chicken fingers (4-5, I think)[_]milk (white, chocolate or 2%)[/ul]The kids have a choice of this “hot lunch” or the taco bar where they make their own Mexican whatevers with tortillas. [/li] The charge is $1.75 per student. Some students who qualify get free lunch thru a subsidized (federal?) program, but the free lunch choice does not include the taco bar. Students must be paid up in advance in a deposit account (“Power Lunch” computer program). If there is no money in their account, they do not eat (but the superintendent allows them to have peanut butter and white bread. Mighty generous of him, don’t you think?) If a student is caught sharing with someone who doesn’t have lunch, he/she is punished. Of course they can always bring lunch from home. I don’t know if they are allowed to share that. I was treated to the cafeteria last Friday as a guest and made the wrong choice of the hot lunch. The taco bar probably would have been better. Now I am feeling sorry for the students. As you might imagine, the top administrators drive to a nice restaurant in town for their lunch; they don’t eat in the cafeteria. So how does this compare with other parts of the country/world? I’m dying to know! ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-k-12-school-lunch-menu-like/302147/2 "2005-05-02T23:10:47Z")
During my time as a K-12 student (more than 20 year ago in NSW, Australia), schools did not provide lunch to students. Students were expected to bring their own from home. There was however a canteen/tuckshop that sold very basic stuff (e.g. ham, cheese, vegemite, salad sandwiches) to students if an order was placed first thing in the morning. It was staffed on a voluntary basis by students’ mothers and was most popular on Mondays - usually because there wasn’t any fresh bread at home for mothers to make their kids’ school lunches. Boarding schools did provide lunch each day to those students who were boarders. Day students still had to bring their own. I gather that the situation is still pretty much the same nowadays, although the fare available in school tuckshops has become a bit more sophisticated. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-k-12-school-lunch-menu-like/302147/3 "2005-05-02T23:11:44Z")
The menu I gave in the OP was from experience. [Here’s the official lunch menu,](http://www.sevastopol.k12.wi.us/resource/lunch.htm) which says for April 29, the day I was there, the food is [quote] [ul][li]Chicken Strips[_]Suace [sic][_]Nacho’s [sic] & Cheese[_]Crunchy Carrots[_]Pears[/ul][/li][/quote] I post it here, as I expect, eventually, the web site will be updated to show upcoming lunches instead of past ones. Judging by this entry, neither spelling nor punctuation is this school’s strong point. Hard to believe academic excellence is high otherwise, isn’t it? The only good thing I can say is they didn’t seem to limit how many carrots, pears or chips I took. But that generosity might not extend to the children. ---
**Author:** ![Stillwell\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@Stillwell\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stillwell_Angel)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-k-12-school-lunch-menu-like/302147/4 "2005-05-02T23:15:26Z")
The menu items you posted above are typical of my son’s school lunch menu, but his is only .65 a day (it’s elementary school). I imagine it will be more when he starts middle school this fall, there they have the choice of menu or ala carte (sp?) items. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-k-12-school-lunch-menu-like/302147/5 "2005-05-02T23:22:47Z")
> [@Stillwell Angel](#): > > The menu items you posted above are typical of my son’s school lunch menu, but his is only .65 a day (it’s elementary school). Could that be a subsidized price? Is your son happy with the menu choices? How does he pay for lunch? Is he prohibited from eating if there is no money in the account? ---
**Author:** ![FaerieBeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e95f7d/32.png) [@FaerieBeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FaerieBeth)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-k-12-school-lunch-menu-like/302147/6 "2005-05-02T23:29:44Z")
Below is this week’s lunch menu for my district. The cost to students is 1.50. The program is, indeed, a federal program that subsidizes for free or reduced cost lunch. The food is low quality and horrible. Teachers pay 2.00 and get the same amount on the tray as the children (I have yet to figure out why teachers pay an extra .50 for the exact same thing). I despise the head lunch lady at our school for many good reasons, but I won’t go into that here. Suffice it to say that I, as well as 95% of the staff at my school, boycott the cafeteria. I also chuckle daily over the uproar about obesity in our children, and yet our district sees fit to serve two dessert items almost every day and three on Friday! (all the “fruit” they mention is served in heavy syrup out of a can) Morons. MONDAY 2 Chicken Fajita Pinto Beans Pineapple Cookie Milk TUESDAY 3 Spaghetti w/Meat Sauce Green Beans Dinner Roll Peaches Cake Milk WEDNESDAY 4 Chicken Fried Steak/Gravy Baked Potato Dinner Roll Cherry Freeze Bar Cookie Milk THURSDAY 5 Cheese Nachos Salad Apple Cinnamon Roll Milk FRIDAY 6 Max Stix/Dippin’ Sauce Potato Wedges Mixed Fruit Chocolate Cookie Vanilla Pudding Milk ---
**Author:** ![Stillwell\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@Stillwell\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stillwell_Angel)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-k-12-school-lunch-menu-like/302147/7 "2005-05-02T23:41:17Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Could that be a subsidized price? > > Is your son happy with the menu choices? How does he pay for lunch? Is he prohibited from eating if there is no money in the account? No, the subsidized price is .40 a day. He did receive the subsidized for a short while after my divorce till we got on our feet. As far as his happiness, he barely eats anything, anytime, anywhere. So, I really can’t gauge that. They do get to choose between the menu item or a pb sandwich. We do have the prepaid accounts. If the money runs out they send a notice home and just start charging anything he eats until I refill his account. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-k-12-school-lunch-menu-like/302147/8 "2005-05-02T23:50:25Z")
Wow, **FaerieBeth,** your menu looks as bad as ours! How on earth can they justify serving “Baked Potato, Dinner Roll, Cherry Freeze Bar, Cookie” in the same meal to anyone who wants to live to adulthood? And what, exactly is a “Max Stix”? Processed, imitation meat substitute? It must be meat-ish – nothing else on Friday’s menu qualifies. No wonder kids want to go to MacDonald’s. **Cunctator** – interesting from an Australian point of view. I think I know what a vegemite sandwich is (thanks to _Men at Work_) but what is a tuckshop? (It thought you misspelled “truckstop” at first.) Would your observation be typical only of a rural area in Aussie-land or more general? > [@Stillwell Angel](#): > > We do have the prepaid accounts. If the money runs out they send a notice home and just start charging anything he eats until I refill his account. That sounds reasonable, and a bit more compassionate. ---
**Author:** ![FaerieBeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e95f7d/32.png) [@FaerieBeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FaerieBeth)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-k-12-school-lunch-menu-like/302147/9 "2005-05-03T00:06:25Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > And what, exactly is a “Max Stix”? Processed, imitation meat substitute? It must be meat-ish – nothing else on Friday’s menu qualifies. Are you sure you want to know? Ah, well… A “max stix” are greasy breadsticks filled with pasteurized processed cheese stuff. Did I mention they’re greasy? I personally have witnessed the puddle of orange-tinted grease on the styrofoam tray under these things. It’s vile. ---
**Author:** ![MissMossie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@MissMossie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissMossie)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-k-12-school-lunch-menu-like/302147/10 "2005-05-03T00:08:30Z")
I’m in college and don’t have children, so I don’t really have any reason to care about this topic other than it’s a nice distraction from the fact that it is finals week and I don’t want to study any more. I checked out the website for my former elementary school and here is this week’s lunch menu: Monday Turkey Corn Dog Nuggets w/Roll OR Thick Crust Pizza Choice of Two: Green Beans, Chilled Peaches, Fresh Fruit 1/2 pint Milk OR Chef Salad Lunch Tuesday Chicken Sticks w/ Whole Wheat Roll OR Hamburger on Bun OR Yogurt w/Crackers Steamed Rice Choice of Two: Corn, Chilled Pears, Fresh Fruit 1/2 pint Milk OR Chef Salad Lunch Wednesday Taco w/toppings & Animal Crackers OR Hot Dog on Bun Choice of Two: Baked Beans, Chilled Applesauce, Fresh Fruit 1/2 pint Milk OR Chef Salad Lunch Thursday Pork BBQ on Bun OR Sliced Turkey on Bun OR Yogurt w/Crackers Pretzels Choice of Two: Oven Roasted Potatoes, Fruit Cocktail, Fresh Fruit 1/2 pint Milk OR Chef Salad Lunch Friday Steak Nuggets w/ Roll OR Fish Sandwich Choice of Two: Tossed Salad, Chilled Pineapple, Fresh Fruit 1/2 pint Milk OR Chef Salad Lunch The lunches are pretty much how I remember them, two different main course choices every day and always a fall back of a Chef Salad. The salads, if I recall correctly, were quite large, but made with iceburg lettuce and not a wide variety of other vegetables. I think I brought my lunch from home maybe twice in elementary school and I was never horribly disapointed with my meals. I’m not sure of the price, but I would guess under two dollars. The real value in my school system was at my high school. For a dollar and seventy-five cents you could get “the special”, two sides, and a sixteen ounce drink. The special ranged from a big plate of spaghetti to a rueben sandwhich to beef-a-roni (I don’t know anyone besides myself who actually ate the beef-a-roni, but I loved it!). Being the cheap-skate that I am, I always marvaled at how heavy my tray was and how all the food only cost me $1.75! It doesn’t compare at all with my current meal plan. ☹ -Mosquito ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-k-12-school-lunch-menu-like/302147/11 "2005-05-03T00:17:07Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > **Cunctator** – interesting from an Australian point of view. I think I know what a vegemite sandwich is (thanks to _Men at Work_) but what is a tuckshop? (It thought you misspelled “truckstop” at first.) A tuckshop is a canteen, food shop etc. The word is derived from the slang term “tuck”, meaning food or sustenance and originally a British term, I suspect. My invariable order every Monday morning throughout my school life was two cheese and vegemite sandwiches and an apple. > [@](#): > > Would your observation be typical only of a rural area in Aussie-land or more general?That sounds reasonable, and a bit more compassionate. My observations were based purely on my experience of school in suburban Sydney. From what rural cousins used to tell me, it was no different in the country. ---
**Author:** ![FaerieBeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e95f7d/32.png) [@FaerieBeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FaerieBeth)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-k-12-school-lunch-menu-like/302147/12 "2005-05-03T00:21:31Z")
> [@FaerieBeth](#): > > A “max stix” are greasy breadsticks filled with pasteurized processed cheese stuff. Sheesh. What can I say. Subject verb agreement is a last quarter skill in first grade :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Cowgirl\_Jules](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@Cowgirl\_Jules](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cowgirl_Jules)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-k-12-school-lunch-menu-like/302147/13 "2005-05-03T01:12:57Z")
I don’t have this month’s menu yet, but last week they had the choice of a Beef and Bean Burrito or another entree every day. The other entree varied: PB&J, Teriyaki Burger on a bun, grilled cheese, sloppy joe, or “mananger’s special,” which we are all somewhat afraid of. The sides stay the same for a whole week and I think they get to pick two. Last week’s were green beans, chilled pears, jicama, fruit turnovers, or corn bread. There’s only one dessert available and they can choose between juice or milk. All for $1.25, but I’ve seen this food, and I wouldn’t choose to eat most of it. They don’t care to buy lunch unless it’s pizza week either, so I make their lunches most days with a sandwich, fruit, a cracker or cheese, a juice, and a dessert. ---
**Author:** ![baronsabato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed655f/32.png) [@baronsabato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/baronsabato)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-k-12-school-lunch-menu-like/302147/14 "2005-05-03T01:35:33Z")
Well, what I remember from high school three years ago (and last time I visited, it hasn’t changed), the basic lunch options were the same every day: KFC (Legs and breast meat with a side of corn and mashed potatoes) A chicken sandwich thing from KFC (I think it was called the Twister or something) Arby’s roast beef sandwiches Pizza Hut mini pizzas Chinese plate (Orange chicken, beef and broccoli, teriyaki chicken, with rice, and chow mein) Mexican “Fiesta” plate (Tacos with beans and rice) Fries Hamburgers or hot dogs (this was all prepared fresh on a BBQ grill) Crispitos: an absolutely delicious tacquito like thing filled with some creamy and cheesey meat concoction I might be missing something, but needless to say, our school lunches were far from healthy, but really good. When Senior year came around and we were given “Senior off-campus priveleges”, I never really cared to get lunch off-campus- it was already delicious enough at school! By the way, the elementary school lunches were far more sensible, typically very basic things like chicken nuggets, vegetables, and/or spaghetti. ---
**Author:** ![sinjin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@sinjin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinjin)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-k-12-school-lunch-menu-like/302147/15 "2005-05-03T02:03:00Z")
I will try to get my friend to post here. She is in charge of the lunches in a school district in Ohio. She has a degree in nutrition and tries very hard to make menues that kids like and that meet the federal and state guidelines. It is a major balancing act that, as a parent, I was unaware of. In addition, the meals have to be, CHEAP, to meet the school’s budget. ---
**Author:** ![Susie\_Derkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@Susie\_Derkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susie_Derkins)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-k-12-school-lunch-menu-like/302147/16 "2005-05-03T02:08:25Z")
Here’s ours for the week: 5/2 Hamburger on bun Oven-Baked Fries Lettuce & pickle Sliced tomato Barbecue Baked Beans Assorted Fruit / Milk Tacos Seasoned Corn Lettuce & Tomato Assorted Fruit Cinnamon Crisp Milk Spaghetti w/meat sauce Italian Bread Steamed Broccoli Tossed Salad Assorted Fruit / Milk Chicken Filet on bun Lettuce & Pickle Sliced tomatoes Cream of Broccoli Soup Veggie Dippers /Milk Assorted Fruit / Cookie Toasted Cheese Sand. Tomato Soup Celery Sticks w/ PB Assorted Fruit Cookie Milk Though not ideal or _perfectly_ healthy, it doesn’t look too bad to me. The funny part: the last three days of school for the year they are serving “Chef’s Choice Smorgasbord”. Anyone else think that’s code for “cleaning out the fridge”? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-k-12-school-lunch-menu-like/302147/17 "2005-05-03T02:28:24Z")
For most of my school years I went to a friends house or home for lunch (up until grade 7). The school I went to in grade 7 had a fry vendor park outside the school at lunch or you brought your own. Grade 9 we would usually bring our own lunches or they had hot dogs or pizza pops for a dollar at the canteen along with soda and candies. Some of us would run down to the Subway or KFC about 3 blocks away, or go buy chips and soda at the convenience store across the street. If we had permission from our parents to be off school property during hours of course. High school we were about 5 blocks from a DQ and Subway so we’d go there or just downstairs to the cafeteria which would have daily specials along with sandwiches, fries, burgers and that sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-k-12-school-lunch-menu-like/302147/18 "2005-05-03T02:33:24Z")
**Susie Derkins,** that sounds like a nice menu. How much do the kids pay for it? And what would happen if the kid’s account ran low? Would they be told to starve? **Baronsabato,** it sounds like the fast food franchisers have invaded. A kid’s dream, a parent’s nightmare, right? Has it worked out? **MissMossie,** your list looks a tad better than ours, but maybe it’s just in the imaginative food naming. Your high school menu reminds me of mine many decades ago, when each food item was 9 cents. The school boasted you could get a complete meal, less drink, for 27 cents. And they were right and it was HOT. (The Coke cost a nickel extra.) Ah, memories! **Sinjin,** I sure would like to hear from a nutritionist. Do any of these menus provide anything remotely resembling good nutrition? Or is there insufficient description to tell? Let’s tally up our mystery food list so far: Manager’s Special :eek: Chef’s Choice Smorgasbord :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Susie\_Derkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@Susie\_Derkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susie_Derkins)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-k-12-school-lunch-menu-like/302147/19 "2005-05-03T03:02:19Z")
**Musicat** , it’s $1.50 per day, and our setup is exactly as **Stillwell Angel** describes. You pay in advance, but if the account runs low they still feed the kids until you send more money. It goes into the negative, of course, but they don’t let the kids starve. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-k-12-school-lunch-menu-like/302147/20 "2005-05-03T03:09:52Z")
It always makes me chuckle that I give my 7th grader more lunch money than I generally use in the work cafeteria. Official meal price is 2.50 (and .40 for reduced) but he very rarely gets the ‘real’ hot lunch. The lunchroom is set up with one cashier line dedicated to hot lunches and one for side items or ala carte stuff, he goes for the shorter ala carte line in order to have time to actually eat. This weeks menu: 2 for 1 coney dog with potato loops Beefy enchilada with mexican rice French Bread pizza Stuffed shells with meat sauce and garlic bread Mozzarella cheese bread with dipping sauce Each of the above comes with a juice or milk and either a fruit or vegetable choice, to balance out all the carbs and fat I guess. Ala Carte items include salad, chicken nuggets, fries, pizza, soft pretzels or corn chips with nacho cheese, cold sandwiches and various non-soda beverages. This stuff’s priced substantially higher, so for a chicken patty sandwich or pizza and a beverage, he’ll pay $4. They just instituted the credit account things in my district recently, and I was so geeked! The accounts only work for regular hot lunches, not ala carte items, so it’s a non-issue for my son. Hell, they can’t even get lunch if they’ve forgotten their school ID, my former alma mater has multiple lunch issues. :rolleyes: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-k-12-school-lunch-menu-like/302147.md?page=2)