You Gonna Eat That?
I remember school lunches in Boston as being a celebration of mostly fried foods, so processed they no longer resembled the name given them. You were never sure if you were eating breaded chicken or breaded fish, for example. I rarely bought one because I usually brought a sandwich for lunch. But the little I recall of them, they weren't exactly healthy. Though that was Boston in the eighties, before child obesity became one of the foremost problems of childhood and adolescence.
Lately, I've seen comparisons of school lunches in the U.S. with lunches in Europe. The U.S. still fares poorly. But it still fares better than Spain. Ever since school lunches have been mostly outsourced to catering businesses, lunch has become a Russian roulette of spoiled meals, or raw dishes, or too little food. The regional government's attempt to save money has meant children who eat at school might or might not end up eating healthily.
The catering businesses have to bid to get the contract for the school lunches. As with all government contracts, the lowest bidder gets the contract. The two caterers who got the contract of many public schools in Galicia are from Málaga and belong to the same owners. In fact, they are two businesses in name only, because they use the same facilities and the same employees. The food is made in Málaga and shipped to Galicia to the schools, where the different plates are warmed up and served. Some schools have had to throw out entire shipments of food that had gone bad. One even had to order pizzas for the entire student body once. Nothing that had been shipped that day was edible.
As for saving money, that the government did. The winning bid was €3.06 a meal. For that money, the student has to receive a three course meal. Once you deduct the portion of the money that goes to taxes, employees, and utilities, there's not much left for the actual food. There are students that get free meals, others that pay a fraction, and some that have to pay full price. Those who pay the full price pay €4.50. So, with those that pay full price, about eleven percent, the government was saving even more money. But the children aren't eating well. Some schools have complained that the portions are too small, that they don't receive enough food and that some children have gone hungry. And this year the problems with spoiled or raw food. This last problem has caused the government to rescind the contracts with the providers in Málaga, but the problem is still there, because the government now needs to find new caterers, again at the lowest bid.
There are some schools that still make the lunches in their kitchens, but they are fewer, though kids there eat better. The conservative government prefers to save five euros rather than have our children eat healthily. That's about as bad as the school lunches we used to have thirty years ago in Boston. Outsourcing isn't the answer. But try telling that to a government that celebrates that the unemployment figures have gone down, even though the emigration figures have gone up in roughly the same proportion. Or that preaches that things have turned peachy rose in just a few months. Doublespeak and doublethink are alive and well.
Lately, I've seen comparisons of school lunches in the U.S. with lunches in Europe. The U.S. still fares poorly. But it still fares better than Spain. Ever since school lunches have been mostly outsourced to catering businesses, lunch has become a Russian roulette of spoiled meals, or raw dishes, or too little food. The regional government's attempt to save money has meant children who eat at school might or might not end up eating healthily.
The catering businesses have to bid to get the contract for the school lunches. As with all government contracts, the lowest bidder gets the contract. The two caterers who got the contract of many public schools in Galicia are from Málaga and belong to the same owners. In fact, they are two businesses in name only, because they use the same facilities and the same employees. The food is made in Málaga and shipped to Galicia to the schools, where the different plates are warmed up and served. Some schools have had to throw out entire shipments of food that had gone bad. One even had to order pizzas for the entire student body once. Nothing that had been shipped that day was edible.
As for saving money, that the government did. The winning bid was €3.06 a meal. For that money, the student has to receive a three course meal. Once you deduct the portion of the money that goes to taxes, employees, and utilities, there's not much left for the actual food. There are students that get free meals, others that pay a fraction, and some that have to pay full price. Those who pay the full price pay €4.50. So, with those that pay full price, about eleven percent, the government was saving even more money. But the children aren't eating well. Some schools have complained that the portions are too small, that they don't receive enough food and that some children have gone hungry. And this year the problems with spoiled or raw food. This last problem has caused the government to rescind the contracts with the providers in Málaga, but the problem is still there, because the government now needs to find new caterers, again at the lowest bid.
There are some schools that still make the lunches in their kitchens, but they are fewer, though kids there eat better. The conservative government prefers to save five euros rather than have our children eat healthily. That's about as bad as the school lunches we used to have thirty years ago in Boston. Outsourcing isn't the answer. But try telling that to a government that celebrates that the unemployment figures have gone down, even though the emigration figures have gone up in roughly the same proportion. Or that preaches that things have turned peachy rose in just a few months. Doublespeak and doublethink are alive and well.
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