This must be a strong contender for Worst School Lunch Policy in the World

Poke Staff. Updated October 31st, 2022

A Redditor named u/neko2314 took to r/mildlyinfuriating to share this unbelievable school lunch policy from a high school in North Carolina.

Mildly infuriating doesn’t even come close to describing throwing away food because a hungry pupil can’t pay on the spot.

Redditors were quite baffled and, frankly, disgusted.

Well food thrown out, is much better than eaten for free. Source – nobody anywhere.
23pyro

They don’t even save money. It’s just to punish the poor.
zhaoz

The poor workers having to enforce this BS too. You know they are soul crushed as well. Some lunch person/cashier denying food to kids or they’ll lose their job. So insane.
atxflyguy

There are many scientific studies that show free school meals to be a net gain in terms of government revenue. They improve educational outcomes on average. Kids are more likely to attend school. Kids get in trouble or cause distractions less. All of this leads to both higher earnings and lower crime rates when they become adults.

A cold-hearted, rationally selfish government would provide free food to kids.
Humble-Theory5964

Can you imagine the embarrassment these CHILDREN will have as the lunch room workers tell them ‘you don’t get to eat’ and proceed to throw the food away that they can’t afford through no fault of their own?

Pinch pennies elsewhere.
Iminittolooseagain

Someone named u/Ralph__Snart described a much better system, practised in Wisconsin.

In my city in Wisconsin, everyone is eligible for free breakfast, and kids are encouraged to participate, regardless of income. This way there’s no stigma around it, and it’s a very popular thing. Pretty much the whole high school has breakfast together every day. So there’s at least a baseline: every kid starts the day nourished.

Free lunches are income based, but you can run a negative balance and there’s a way for anyone to donate to offset negative balances.

There’s also an organization that discreetly provides enough food to students who ask, put in their lockers on Friday afternoons so they don’t go hungry over the weekend. It’s not income based, the kids don’t need a parent to give permission, they don’t even give their names. Just a locker number and any food allergies.

Nobody goes hungry, and nobody is shamed or made to feel bad because they have shitty home lives.

In the absence of a policy like the one in Wisconsin, u/usalaunchcodes suggested a way for the kids in question to get something to eat.

Get the food on your tray and shovel it all down your throat before you get to the cashier. “Sorry, I can’t pay, but you can throw away everything on my tray.”

It’s 2022 and the best advice is to steal food to avoid going hungry.

Source r/mildlyinfuriating Image Anton Murygin on Unsplash