Hey guys,
We all have heard the jokes and criticisms about cafeteria food. There isn’t much variety, the quality isn’t really the best, and sometimes it is even pretty expensive. All things considered though, I think the food offered at Pilgrim during lunch is decent… there is enough to choose from so you can eat healthy if you want, or have a slice of pizza instead.
With the exception of one particular incident I had in elementary school, I have always assumed the food being served in school was at least safe and reasonably fresh. In some Massachusetts schools, that would not be a safe assumption.
Schools in Boston and around Massachusetts were found to be serving food that was more than six weeks beyond its expiration date! These items included meats and some dairy products. According to newspaper reports, officials are not sure where the mistake occurred but are investigating. They also wanted to ensure parents that the food being served to their children is safe to eat. However, across the state this past week, lunch sales have dramatically dropped… gee, I wonder why.
No such incidents have been reported in Rhode Island… so enjoy... though I think I’ll be brown bagging it from now on…
What do you think?
- X
I don't buy lunch because I feel its ridiculous to spend 3 dollars on a wrap, and when I see the "meat" and I don't know what its supposed to be. I bring lunch from home because it's cheaper, and I know if it's good or not.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Violette. The school lunches do not look very appealing. I mean I guess its not the worse food in the entire world, if your hungry and all but it just looks gross. Wraps are almost three dollars, you can get half of a subway sandwich for three dollars, and at least then you know that the meat is safe. The meat that we have at our school looks like rubber. I prefer to bring my own lunch because for one I know exactly what is in it, and I know that if it were expired it wouldn't be in my lunch. I also think that the school systems need to be much more careful about expiration dates, after all school lunches are supposed to be healthy, they are not supposed to provide us with food poisoning.
ReplyDeleteI myself bring a lunch from home, yet I normally get hungry during advisory and eat it then. I am therefore forced to buy a school lunch because I do eat a lot. Most of the time I buy the snacks, so I do not have to resort to buying the lunch, it just does not look appetizing.
ReplyDeleteI think thats just gross that it was six weeks past the expiration date. Food should not be served if it is a few days past the expiration date, nevermind over a month past the expiration date. I don't understand how it is possible for food to get that far beyond the expiration date without somebody noticing there is a problem. And if somebody did notice and just ignored it, that is an even bigger problem. Its just not okay.
ReplyDeleteIt seems weird that there is a lot news about spoiled or expiered food in the news lately. There has always been comforting to me to know what is going in my food, but it seems like there needs to be a trust (outside of my home) with those who prepare food. Having spoiled food in schools makes we wonder if this happens at Dunkin, Subway, Taco Bell, or what have you. The trust among the cafe staff and student body must be very little now. Why can't people just provide good quality food?
ReplyDeleteSometimes the lunches are okay. In small doses though....I usually pack a lunch, and never really am interested in the lunches, but serving kids expired food, I think I'll just pack ALL of my food this time.
ReplyDeleteI myself usually bring a lunch from home. Like other students I eat some of it during advisory so I usually bring more food for school. Sometimes I decide to buy lunch at school. I sometimes am questioning how old the food is, whats ACTUALLY in it and much more. That is ridiculous!....Students have the right to whats in their food. It is disgusting that the food was that old!
ReplyDeleteI've been eating a free school lunch since my frst day of kindergarden and of course there have been terrible instances where something I ate resembeled the horrors of putrification.I once found a hair in my school lunchwrap at pilgrim, along with having spoiled milk that tasted like it consisted of vinegre and paste. When it all comes down to it , I've been getting it for free so I shouldn't complain about this literal donation. For others who pay $2.85 or $.40 it is still a bargin for all the possibilities and sides you ca get. People should suck it up, bring their own lunch from home or starve.
ReplyDeleteSincerly Kathleen gamez
I've only bought lunch from this school a handful of times and I haven't since I got expired milk with my food. It doesn't have to be the quality of a five star restaurant, but it should still be edible. I find it hard to believe that Massachusetts is the only state with this problem. People already spend over or around $15 on school lunches a week so they should be getting their money's worth. If this happened to a restaurant, they'd be shut down. Why not teach the school system a lesson and at least give them a warning?
ReplyDelete-Brandon Maxwell
This is so rediculous. How can a school serve food that has been expired for soo long. This is why i always check if my milk is expired before taking it. wow now i really dont feel like eating school food now. i hope this never happens here at pilgrim.
ReplyDelete-Vanessa Aristy
If parents decide to sue the school district for gross neglect, they would probably win. Kathleen is right. Some people have a choice on whether they get school lunch or not, even if bringing their own lunch in is more inconvenient. But some people have no choice. For some, it's either eat the school lunch or go hungry. If it was me in that situation, I'd just plug my nose and eat it. It is neglect on the school's part for not supplying healthy (by that, I mean safe to eat) food. What happens if someone who cannot otherwise afford a lunch eats the expired food and gets sick? The school would argue that they had the choice, but did they really? With food, and all the nasty food poisonings, prevention is the best cure. Someone could seriously have gotten sick. Some elements of schools can get away with slacking off; cafeteria food is not one of them.
ReplyDelete