Junk Food ‘Black Markets’ Spread Through L.A. School District

Source: Liberty Confidential

Los Angeles Unified School District unveiled a revamped lunch menu this school year, and spent a lot of time patting themselves on the back and receiving awards and recognition.

The menu has also been roundly rejected by the kids, who have to actually eat the stuff on the menu. Moreover, a junk food black market has sprung up on public school campuses all over the second largest school district in the US.

Some students are even saying that they have been eating more junk food this year than ever before.

Oops!

Last summer it was announced that the school board’s decision to stop serving chocolate milk was only the beginning.

“A menu overhaul is underway that will mean fewer meals that resemble fast food and more vegetarian offerings,” the LA Times reported. “Spinach tortellini in butternut squash sauce and California sushi rolls, along with many ethnic foods, are to be added.”

Megan Bomba, a project coordinator with Occidental College’s Urban and Environmental Policy Institute, agreed with the move, saying the menu proposed for fall sounds “appealing” and “sophisticated” than what had been previously offered.

That’s exactly what kids will eat, right? They crave vegetarian curries and tamales, quinoa salads and pad Thai noodles, and other “sophisticated” items. Um, right?

This month, the LA Times has decided to on the lunch menu, and see how it’s going.

Turns out, it’s going into the garbage. Every day.

“It’s lunchtime at Van Nuys High School … but Iraides Renteria and Mayra Gutierrez don’t even bother to line up,” Teresa Watanabe wrote in her article.

She asks Iraides Renteria and Mayra Gutierrez about the menu. They say they tried the food but think it’s “nasty, rotty stuff.”

When asked what they eat, the juniors pull three bags of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos and soda from their backpacks. “This is our daily lunch,” Iraides says. “We’re eating more junk food now than last year.”

But that isn’t the only thing she’s observed. Another, rather curious thing has sprung up on government school campuses across the LA district. Kids are getting a lesson in economics, so at least they are learning something useful.

“At many campuses, an underground market for chips, candy, fast-food burgers and other taboo fare is thriving,” Watanabe says.

I wonder what has school officials more concerned: the waste, the complains, or the underground economy that’s arrived on campus?

Full post at Liberty Confidential