The Problem Is Gross School Lunch. These High Schoolers Are Fixing It.
Students at a Chicago high school blame the district's contractor for serving meals they say are worse than prison food. And they're getting results.
12/10/2015 12:12 pm ET Joseph Erbentraut, Senior What's Working Editor, The Huffington Post
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A group of students at a Chicago public high school on the city’s northwest side is calling for higher quality, healthier food to be served at
their cafeteria -- inspiring real change that could be felt citywide.
“We want our school to be better,” Jacquez Conwell, a junior at Roosevelt High School participating in the student protest of the “crap”
meals, told HuffPost. “It’s not fair for us kids, us teenagers, to go through the day where we’re not satisfied. And if we’re not satisfied, we’re
not learning anything and we’re not focused.”
Conwell is one of many Roosevelt students participating in a campaign that’s been titled The School Lunch Project.
Late last month, students debuted their website featuring photos of unappetizing food they’ve been served at school, including images of
still-frozen fruit cups, spoiled produce and questionable meat.
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The students also included a list of their proposals for change, including the option to have off-campus lunch, the addition of vending
machines in the school, and asking for more options beyond milk or water to drink. Students would also like more diverse entrees beyond
the heavily processed foods typically available, and they claim pizza, a fried chicken patty or a hamburger are their only options most days.
“Lunch time is the time where you eat and enjoy your free time,” the students’ website reads. “It’s supposed to be the place where students
get the best healthy lunches like salads, sandwiches, fresh fruits, etc. Instead they give some gross, unhealthy food.”
The campaign started as a project in a civics class taught by Tim Meegan and grew from an online initiative first reported by WBEZ’s Monica
Eng into a student boycott of the lunches served at Roosevelt that has received coverage by dozens of media outlets both local and national.
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Their message is being heard. On Tuesday, Meegan and a group of students took part in a meeting with officials representing Chicago
Public Schools and Aramark.
Philadelphia-headquartered Aramark was awarded the district’s $97 million-a-year catering contract in 2013, a deal made under
circumstances the CPS inspector general deemed “questionable.” The company, which also holds a $260 million contract covering
custodial duties for the district, is no stranger to criticism for the services it has provided.
As a result of the meeting, Meegan reported CPS and Aramark officials asked students at Roosevelt to monitor their meals through the
year’s end and report back on any issues and invited them to choose a group of five students comprising a Student Dining Committee to
take part in a taste testing to evaluate new foods to join the school’s meal rotation.
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Students’ reactions to the meeting were “mixed,” Meegan admitted, as there was some frustration that it would take up to three
months to incorporate new menu items and students felt concerns about their food’s quality, rather than how it was prepared,
went ignored. Still, he said they are “cautiously optimistic” the food will improve for the better.
Aramark currently provides food services for some 380 school districts nationwide and custodial services for more than 130
districts.
The company also provides food services for correctional facilities, including the Michigan Department of Corrections, which
ended its contract with Aramark earlier this year due to issues including employee misconduct and sanitation concerns including
maggots being found inside a prison kitchen.
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On their website, students allege that some prisons under contract with Aramark are actually being served better
food than they are.
David Katz, a nutritionist and instructor in medicine at Yale’s School of Public Health, shared Meegan and the
students’ concerns about the quality of the food at Roosevelt after viewing photos the students had posted to
their website.
“I am entirely on the side of the students here. The food does, indeed, look 'nasty' as they say, and doubtless
has a taste to match,” Katz wrote in an e-mail.
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While recognizing that the resources of the district are limited, considering that all the students qualify for free meals under a federal policy change enacted last
year, he pointed to the work of groups like Revolution Foods and Real Food For Kids as examples of school lunch vendors that provide affordable, high-quality
meals for students in the communities they serve.
“Better nutrition, and the cultivation of healthy eating, is a very worthwhile investment,” Katz added. ”We have rampant childhood obesity and diabetes. Better food
is the remedy, and schools could be leading the way. Instead, in this case, they are clearly holding us back.”
In response to the students’ campaign, CPS spokeswoman Emily Bittner said in a statement that the district “is committed to serving healthy and nutritious meals to
its students” and added that they are “look[ing] forward to working together to address their needs."
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Meegan, who earlier this year ran for Chicago’s City Council in an unsuccessful challenge of incumbent Alderman Deb Mell
in the city’s 33rd ward, said he was not surprised that officials were surprised to learn of the students’ complaints.
“I think the fact that Aramark and CPS don’t get more complaints from parents about the food has to do with the idea that
nothing will change more so than the idea that there’s nothing wrong,” Meegan said.
His students are now looking to expand the campaign to include students at other CPS schools who share similar concerns
about their lunches.
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Meegan believes the campaign imparts an important lesson to his classes.
“This is a very daunting task,” Meegan said. “But this is an important lesson for civics students because they’re going to be dealing with bureaucracies for the rest o
their lives. The question of how you make change within a large system like this is still a valid one we haven’t fully answered yet. The skills and tactics students
learn in conducting these projects I hope will serve them well throughout their lives.”
First read
Thinking codes
? - had a question about
* - important information
! - found interesting
Problem / Solution
In the article "The Problem Is Gross School Lunch. These High Schoolers Are
Fixing It,"
the problem is:
the solution is:
Second read
Language
A. What is the meaning of the unknown words or phrases you circled in relation to
the passage?
B. What words and phrases are used to describe the school lunches at Roosevelt
High School?
C. How do the photos of school lunches contribute to the article?
D. What does it mean in paragraph 11 that students are "cautiously optimistic"?
What is a FLEE map?
Get it...he's "fleeing" from the map? NO!!!
FLOW map
+
TREE map
+
= FLEE map
Why is the claim true? REASON #1
Support it - EVIDENCE AND EXPLANATION!
(How does this evidence support your reason?)
What do some people say? COUNTERARGUMENT
Refute it - EVIDENCE AND EXPLANATION!
(How does this evidence rebuttle your reason?)
Why is the claim true? REASON #2 (strongest)
Support it - EVIDENCE AND EXPLANATION!
(How does this evidence support your reason?)
Take out your school lunches article and close read questions.
Start looking over the questions for 3rd close read.
Syntax
E. What is the tone of the passage and how do you know?
F. Where does the text leave matters uncertain? What are you left wondering?
G. Why does the author include quotes from Tim Meegan? How do they contribute
to the article?
H. What expert does the author include in the article? Why?
I. Who is Aramark and what is its significance to the School Lunch Project?
Take out your FLEE map.
Today you will continue researching evidence that supports your 2 reasons and
refutes your counterclaim.
Argumentative paper timeline
Thursday Jan. 14
Wednesday Jan.
13
Continue
researching
evidence / filling
in the 3 middle
boxes on FLEE
map
Read a sample
completed body
paragraph
What makes a good
introduction? How do I
write a powerful thesis
statement? How do I
end my paper with a
strong conclusion?
Friday Jan.
15
Finish any
research.
Complete FLEE
map. Start typing
rough draft and
FINISH IT OVER
THE WEEKEND!
Monday Jan.
18
MLK Day. NO
SCHOOL! Quietly
sing "Hallelujah"
song in your head.
Tuesday
Jan. 19
ELA Quarterly
Completed rough
drafts DUE for reverse
FLEE map group peer
edits
WednesdayJan.
20
Social Studies
Quarterly
EARLY RELEASE
DAY!!!!
Work on final draft
Thursday Jan.
21
Math
Quarterly
Work on final
draft
Friday Jan. 22
Science Quarterly
FINAL DRAFTS DUE
ON GOOGLE
CLASSROOM
Take out your school lunches article and close read questions.
Start looking over the questions for 4th close read.
Content
J. For whom and why did the author write this?
K. What is the big idea? What does the reader "take away"?
L. What were the possible impacts of the content on the reader, school, lunch
contractors or the U.S.?
M. Which quote from Tim Meegan sums up the article?
What do I need to include in my INTRODUCTION and CONCLUSION?
Writing an INTRODUCTION...
Hook
Connection
Introduce / Ellaborate on your topic
Thesis statement
Sample thesis...you need to include your counterclaim, position and reasons
Although many kids believe that video games provide a nonaddictive escape from reality, video games are
becoming more and more prominent in our society. Video games should be illegal for anyone under the age of 18
because they contribute to the "dumbing down" of our society and are one of the biggest factors in decreasing
student performance in schools.
Writing a CONCLUSION...
Restate thesis / opinion
Summarize reasons
Personal comment/call to action
Argumentative paper timeline
Thursday Jan. 14
Wednesday Jan.
13
Continue
researching
evidence / filling
in the 3 middle
boxes on FLEE
map
Read a sample
completed body
paragraph
What makes a good
introduction? How do I
write a powerful thesis
statement? How do I
end my paper with a
strong conclusion?
Friday Jan.
15
Finish any
research.
Complete FLEE
map. Start typing
rough draft and
FINISH IT OVER
THE WEEKEND!
Monday Jan.
18
MLK Day. NO
SCHOOL! Quietly
sing "Hallelujah"
song in your head.
Tuesday
Jan. 19
ELA Quarterly
Completed rough
drafts DUE for reverse
FLEE map group peer
edits
WednesdayJan.
20
Social Studies
Quarterly
EARLY RELEASE
DAY!!!!
Work on final draft
Thursday Jan.
21
Math
Quarterly
Work on final
draft
Friday Jan. 22
Science Quarterly
FINAL DRAFTS DUE
ON GOOGLE
CLASSROOM
List of debatable topics
1
. Should the school cafeteria sell fast food?
2.Should middle school sports be co-ed?
3. Does class size matter in middle school?
4. Should kids be paid for doing household chores?
5. Should school be year-round?
6. Should schools offer single-gender classes?
7. Should animals be used for research?
8. Should kids be allowed to listen to music in class?
9. Should the state put-down dogs that have bitten someone?
10. Should college athletes be paid for playing?
11. Should zoos be abolished?
12. Should prayer be banned from schools?
13. Should smoking be illegal?
14. Should poetry be eliminated from the curriculum?
15. Should uniforms be mandatory for middle school students?
16. Should middle school sports programs be cut when there is a tight budget for schools?
17. Should internet slang, like ‘LOL’ and ‘IMHO’ be included in dictionaries?
18. Is the Bermuda triangle a creation of our imagination?
19. Can virtual reality be dangerous for kids?
List of debatable topics
1
. Should the school cafeteria sell fast food?
2. Should middle school sports be co-ed?
3. Does class size matter in middle school?
4. Should kids be paid for doing household chores?
5. Should school be year-round?
6. Should schools offer single-gender classes?
7. Should animals be used for research?
8. Should kids be allowed to listen to music in class?
9. Should the state put-down dogs that have bitten someone?
10. Should college athletes be paid for playing?
11. Should zoos be abolished?
12. Should prayer be banned from schools?
13. Should smoking be illegal?
14. Should poetry be eliminated from the curriculum?
15. Should uniforms be mandatory for middle school students?
16. Should middle school sports programs be cut when there is a tight budget for schools?
17. Should internet slang, like ‘LOL’ and ‘IMHO’ be included in dictionaries?
18.Is the Bermuda triangle a creation of our imagination?
19. Should parents get the option of selecting their baby's gender?
List of debatable topics
1
. Should the school cafeteria sell fast food?
2. Should middle school sports be co-ed?
3. Does class size matter in middle school?
4. Should kids be paid for doing household chores?
5. Should school be year-round?
6. Should schools offer single-gender classes?
7. Should animals be used for research?
8. Should kids be allowed to listen to music in class?
9. Should the state put-down dogs that have bitten someone?
10. Should college athletes be paid for playing?
11. Should zoos be abolished?
12. Should prayer be banned from schools?
13. Should smoking be illegal?
14. Should poetry be eliminated from the curriculum?
15. Should uniforms be mandatory for middle school students?
16. Should middle school sports programs be cut when there is a tight budget for schools?
17. Should internet slang, like ‘LOL’ and ‘IMHO’ be included in dictionaries?
18.Is the Bermuda triangle a creation of our imagination?
19. Should parents get the option of selecting their baby's gender?
List of debatable topics
1
. Should the school cafeteria sell fast food?
2. Should middle school sports be co-ed?
3. Does class size matter in middle school?
4. Should kids be paid for doing household chores?
5. Should school be year-round?
6. Should schools offer single-gender classes?
7. Should animals be used for research?
8. Should kids be allowed to listen to music in class?
9. Should the state put-down dogs that have bitten someone?
10. Should college athletes be paid for playing?
11. Should zoos be abolished?
12. Should prayer be banned from schools?
13. Should smoking be illegal?
14. Should poetry be eliminated from the curriculum?
15. Should uniforms be mandatory for middle school students?
16. Should middle school sports programs be cut when there is a tight budget for schools?
17. Should internet slang, like ‘LOL’ and ‘IMHO’ be included in dictionaries?
18.Is the Bermuda triangle a creation of our imagination?
19. Should parents get the option of selecting their baby's gender?