Students at Roosevelt High School in Chicago have gone up in revolt over their school lunches provided by Aramark, arguing that the food the company serves is disgusting and is no better than prison food, and are now boycotting the school's lunch entirely.
The disgruntled students launched an effort in November called "The School Lunch Project: Culinary Denial," aimed at educated the public about the food served at their school, and mobilize all 1,400 students at Roosevelt to stand up for better nutrition, according to TakePart.
"I think it's especially important for young people in Chicago - where we see so much corruption, cronyism, and nepotism - that they learn how to make change within large organizations," Tim Meegan, a veteran social studies teacher at Roosevelt who supports the student-led effort, said Monday. "This is just one of many diverse tactics that we are trying to teach young people so they are fully equipped to participate as citizens in a democratic society."
On the website devoted to the protest, students argue the food served at Roosevelt High is no better than that served at prisons, which is troublesome, since as the activists note, Aramark is the food service provider for both the school and nearby Cook County prison.
"Today, our lunch at Roosevelt is no better than the ones in Cook County prison. In fact Aramark is the food service provider for both institutions," student activists said. "Prisons only care about one thing when it comes down to meals - that it has enough nutrients for what the human body needs, it doesn't matter if it tastes or smells bad. One online review of the prison food shows that prisoners get better food from Aramark than we do. For example they have corn muffins, steamed carrots, green beans, also mac and cheese. They also drink Kool-Aid."
The student activists say they want healthier and tastier food as well as bigger portions. In the meantime, the students' MoveOn petition states that the boycott will end if the principal, the Chicago Board of Education and Aramark allow them to "open the lunchroom kiosk, have vending machines, off campus lunch, food delivery, and increased options, portion sizes, and quality in our school lunch."
Chicago Public Schools released a statement about the matter saying, "the health and wellness of our students is among our top priorities, and we will look into the students' questions about their meals."
