Largest School Lunch Boycott Ever Starts in Connecticut

Heather Callaghan/Activist Post

Today, starts the first day of one of the largest, most viral student-led lunchtime boycotts. Farmington High School of Farmington, Connecticut organized the Facebook event to boycott the school lunches for November 3-7th. The peaceful consumer demonstration protests not only the incredibly dismal quality of the food, but also the harsh credit system that denies lunches when accounts are slightly overdrawn. Over 500 people have signed up to attend.

If there weren’t some photos to back up the complaints, the quality problem would sound outrageous enough for Charles Dickens to reject as fiction. Students have found mold, uncooked chicken, expired food, unidentifiable blobs, dead bugs and human hairs. They have described portion sizes for $3.50 lunches that amount to a couple of gulps. But to add insult to injury, students are not alerted when their accounts are running down. Instead, their lunch is taken and chucked into garbage cans right next to the register; right in front of their faces and peers. In one instance, a parent complained that her daughter who has Type 1 diabetes was forced to throw out her only meal – a yogurt. Another student had his lunch laid waste because he was short 50 cents.

It’s not so much the school they take issue with – although the school is condoning the poor quality – but the shady food company to whom they are contracted - Chartwells. Speaking as a former public school staff member, this example highlights a nationwide problem of schools subletting food quality to the lowest possible private bidder.

High school senior and organizer David Casella said:

They’re not treating us like humans, they’re treating us like a business opportunity.

The school has tried to pressure students to back down, citing possible injury to students on the free lunch program that might not be able to participate. Solution? The students are bringing extra lunches from home to help them and are ordering pizzas this week. In the past, they have reached into their pockets to help students who get their lunches thrown out when they are short. Unfortunately, today during the boycott, one student was barred from handing out free food. The Principal told her it was illegal! (See: Breaking Bread: Student Punished for Sharing Lunch)

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