http://www.newsobserver.com/business/story/643434.html

>> consider that districts like Janey Thorton's in Hardin County, Ky., must hold their local spending to 85 cents a day per meal.

Despite the challenges, educators say they hope the updated meals introduce children to new foods, like sliced kiwis, blood oranges and even hummus. <<

85 cents a day per meal?  I don't see how they can do it, even by serving junk food.

> 85 cents a day per meal

true. with better nutrition journalists could write better.

Junk food is way more expensive than good food.  For $10 I can buy enough ingredients to make chili to last me over a week.  $.85 is indeed pretty low for a meal, even buying/cooking in bulk, but you can get close to it.  Not if you're buying exotic fruit, but certainly good food can be had for cheap.

Yeah, don't forget that schools buy stuff in large quantities and get wholesale pricing. So 1 gallon of fruit cocktail costs $3.

Bureaucrat: "We must stop the rising obesity epidemic by serving hummus!"

PE: "I notice your schools no longer have recess or PE classes and students are banned from playing sports during lunch or afterschool."

Bureaucrat: "Those activities have been shown to lead to discipline problems. The students should exercise at home."

PE: "Where? All the parks have been bulldozed and converted to office buildings."

Bureaucrat: "Eliminating parks has reduced gang drug activity by 17%"

85 cents? how? child labor of course:

>like sliced kiwis,

give the kids knives

> blood oranges

syringes

> and even hummus.

mallets.

Funny.  Very good, 'straw'.

I mean, they're in school to LEARN, right?  Why not teach them food preparation as well?

Schools might have to start working like the old Indian schools.  The food was raised on site, by the students.  Not, mind you, that these schools were a model of how to treat students properly or give them any kind of foundation for further academic pursuits.  But the graduates did learn how to be self sufficient, somewhat as a matter of necessity.

+1 PE