Texas Students Boycott Repetitive School Lunches

Dozens of students at a Texas middle school staged a boycott of the cafeteria lunch menu last week in protest of repetitive offerings, the Victoria Advocate reported.

Inspired by a recent history lesson in which they learned the word "boycott," around 30 seventh graders at Austwell-Tivoli Junior High School near Texas' Gulf Coast decided to bring their lunches from home Tuesday through Friday.

"We wanted more choice in what was served, as there was a lot of repetition in what was going on. All we wanted was for our voice to be heard and a chance at change," 12-year-old Mckenzi Simmons, president of the seventh-grade class, told the Advocate.

In an effort to show respect to the school's administration, Simmons said the class sent two separate letters to the principal articulating their complaints with the menu, according to the Associated Press.

"We have tried other solutions before. However, seeing as there has been no change or consideration, we have come to this option. Once again, if we have hurt anyone's feelings we are sincerely sorry, as it was unintentional," one of the letters said.

In response to the protest, Superintendent Antonio Aguirre arranged for two weeks of varied lunch entrees and said the schedule may be repeated in the future.

Aguirre added that the school's lunch menu must adhere to strict nutritional guidelines set by the Texas Department of Agriculture, which limits the number of times certain foods can be served during a certain period, as well as portion sizes.

That means if students are looking for frequent offerings of frozen desserts or deep-fried foods, they're in for a disappointment.

Texas' current nutrition policy is the result of years of school lunch reform undertaken by state administrators in an effort to curb high sugar and fat content in meals, bar "competitive foods" like fast food and pizza from being served at classroom parties, and phase out deep-fried foods, according to the American Journal of Public Health.

As of Tuesday, the students believed their protest had been heard and planned to call an end to the boycott, according to the AP.

Comments

[kingston401]

04:19 PM on 03/01/2012

metmevid posted at 1035P on 2/22/12:

I still think you missed a few points:
1. Your service to your country isn’t the point. The question wasn’t addressed to you—your opinion as a “current” veteran is immaterial. The question was directed to those who were starving in WWII and may have a different opinion of the boycott than the students. It was a question that would have been apropos at the time.

2. The question is, are there really STARVING people in the U.S. as per the definition in my WWI example? Judging by your response, it doesn’t sound like you “get” this one either.

3. There are consequences to every action and perhaps they weren’t aware of them (as I posted previously about a “lockout”)—perhaps the kids should have been aware of the negative consequences (usually actions at that age is more or less spontaneous without the thought of negative reactions).

Though I may be “parsing situations”, I see the students’ action as more of a protest than a boycott because it’s difficult to boycott free stuff.

I understand that the kids were applying what they learned (I taught for 30 years) and I don’t disagree with that.

[rudy in la]

01:01 PM on 02/24/2012

Why not just let,the kids pack their own lunch every day, or at least more often? I am a huge believer in kids being given meals at school. I understand that for many kids, it's these are the only balanced meals they get. On the other hand, if the kids can afford to bring their own lunches, or choose to for any reason, that seems like a good way to break up the "monotony." A casual observance seems to show that most school lunch programs are "by the book" and forget that kids ae people too, and would prefer enjoyable food. Their parents may want to remind the kids that having no food, as some people in the world do, is a much worse monotony. Congrats to them for their organized, peaceful protest. A lot of adults could use the lesson.

[itin1200]

09:46 AM on 02/24/2012

Back in 1980 or '81 my Jr-Sr high school staged a boycott of our school lunches. Hardly any lunches sold for a week.

Got the attention of the administration, and changes were made.

Even "Mystery Meat" disappeared from the menu.

Kudos to these kids. Learning young to stand up to authority.

[farmilyman]

09:10 AM on 02/24/2012

Where will Texas dump their excess GMO food now?

[SocialTinker]

03:34 PM on 02/23/2012

Food fight breaks out as health food nuts cross picket lines. It's the right of every child in America to eat food that's bad for them says one striker. More updates to follow as older children protest the lack of adequate healthcare in America.

[blackraisin]

01:45 PM on 02/23/2012

Nice. All citizens should be allowed to opt-out of failed programs if they can, whether it be a home-packed lunch or a 401K.

[musicmasterno1]

12:22 PM on 02/23/2012

Nice to see kids their age protesting the "Nanny-State". There are some school districts that actually have "dietary police" checking out the homemade lunches and forcing the children to eat the school's mandated "healthy" meals instead.

Socialism at its finest.

[wakohnen]

05:21 AM on 02/23/2012

In response to the protest, Superintendent Antonio Aguirre arranged for two weeks of varied lunch entrees and said the schedule may be repeated in the future.

Wow, just like a REAL boycott! Put a temporary band aid on it and hope it goes away.

[davidspeicher]

03:20 AM on 02/23/2012

I think all kids need to bring lunch from home as we need to use the money not for lunch room employees but for teaching.

[matilda81]

02:38 PM on 02/24/2012

Lunch room employees are paid minimum wage and there are usually very few of them. The food quality is akin to prison food, yet the cost per meal is much higher than it should be. The costs are covered.

[davidspeicher]

12:22 AM on 02/28/2012

Yes but if the kids do not eat the food then they throw it out and this is money being thrown away. If you add this to the time and energy used to make the food the delivery of the food and storage facilities used to hold the food. This could pay for more teachers or more paper or other things the schools truly need.

[simzillyjp]

03:03 AM on 02/23/2012

If the kids do not like the lunches....let them starve......they'll get hungry sooner or later.

[matilda81]

02:41 PM on 02/24/2012

The food in Texas schools is pretty disgusting and the children are paying money for it. The schools can make changes.

[redwingirish]

02:11 AM on 02/23/2012

As BUSHY-BOY would say "Let them eat cake!"

[keith63ply]

01:06 AM on 02/23/2012

Whatever teacher that told these kids to protest over something this stupid, should be fired. And even sadder, why is this story considered news? just asking...............

[FacelessFiend]

05:56 AM on 02/23/2012

I have to disagree in a big way. What better way to inspire students to work for change while incorporating lessons in the school room? I think it's brilliant! I hope the teacher was involved. What better way to take a history lesson and learn from it, as is the whole idea in the first place! Inspiring these kids to take something they learned and apply it in order to peacefully and maturely protest for a change they had been wanting is wonderful. This is an awesome story! They asked for a realistic change to a simple problem, and they won!

[musicmasterno1]

12:25 PM on 02/23/2012

I couldn't agree with you more. They are protesting being force-fed foods that some third party deemed "healthy", instead if having the freedom to choose what they wish. It's a fantastic lesson about standing up for what they believe in and they couldn't have done a better job.

It is the parents' responsibility to ensure their children are eating an overall healthy diet, not the school's.

[Stephanie Hatfield]

12:33 PM on 02/24/2012

I agree with this as well. Nutrition should be the upmost priority of children. It is what makes them grow and mature in a health way, and proper nutrition helps the brain function, which in turn helps them learn, which is why they are in school in the first place. Good for them for taking it in their own hands and standing up for what they believe in! If more people, young and old, would do this then we would have much healthier lunches in our schools!

[matilda81]

02:46 PM on 02/24/2012

If your work forced you to eat prison quality, non healthy meals that you had to pay for, how would you feel? These small Texas towns don't have the budgets of schools in places like NYC. There are not state income taxes to pay for this.

[Fran Jaime]

12:22 AM on 02/23/2012

Well done, kids!

[brew8jn]

12:21 AM on 02/23/2012

The picture of the school lunch in this article looks like it is from the 1950's-60's. I go eat lunch with my daughter at school sometimes and it is junk with no taste. It's almost inedible...and it seems like they have no intention of changing..the food looks artificial and nasty. Why does everyone in the school system seem like they want to hinder the kids insteaad of help them??

[hellyon3too]

01:07 AM on 02/23/2012

I went to school during the 1950s-60s. Our school lunches looked nothing like that.

Every Friday we got something they called macaroni and cheese. Well, it had macaroni in it, but the "cheese" was questionable. My home-ec teacher told us it was because they used natural cheese instead of processed, and baked it too long at too high of a temperature. The cheese was curdled, and tasted like sour milk!

The only time we ever got something that was actually edible was on the rare occasions we had a hot dog, or chili. And those were rarities. The rest of the time the only way we knew what we were eating was to read the menu. Chicken? Nope. Never.

[brew8jn]

08:24 AM on 02/23/2012

Wow, that's interesting!! Ours were like homecooked meals, and our teacher sat at the table with us and MADE us eat at least half of everything! I don't even remember having anything like hot dogs or chili. I started school in Virginia in 1964.

[matilda81]

02:48 PM on 02/24/2012

I've never seen a Texas school cafeteria meal piece of chicken that looked like that. You have no way of knowing if that pic was actually taken at the school mentioned in the article.

[lucho12]

01:29 AM on 02/23/2012

That is the result of the goverment intrusion in the unity of the family, taking away their responsability, they have been trained to think that their job is to make babies.

[kauna13]

12:05 AM on 02/23/2012

Strict nutritional guidelines my arse. Those kids were probably eating healthier during boycott week than any other week's worth of school lunches. Good for them!