Tacoma Parents Speak Out About School Lunches

Submitted by Jennifer Boutell on June 3, 2010 - 4:30pm

Today was "beefy gravy" day. In honor of all the brave boys and girls who ate school lunch today, I thought I'd share some of the comments that have come in through the petition form.

"It's especially bad at the elementary schools. My 2 girls...get up [at] 6:30am, in order to carpool with my middle schooler. We don't have time to give them a full breakfast [at] home, and depend on reduced breakfast & lunch."

"My son is a Sophomore at Stadium High School and has been complaining about how awful the food is...not taste, but nutrional value. He spoke to his principal and started bringing his lunch ever day. Luckily we have that option. This needs to change!"

"My son will not even eat school lunches because they taste terrible."

"Nachos as a regular lunch entree? Seriously? That's bar food in my world. There's much room for improvement."

"....for years my children have been complaining about the food; warm milk, 1/2 frozen sandwiches, etc. and now that my oldest is in middle school, the situation has gotten worse since she only has enough time to get through the pizza (shortest) line and have time to eat! Hopefully we are able to do something about the time restaints also, I encourage parents to go sit in the lunchroom and witness how our children are rushed to eat-it's just unhealthy to try to gobble down food like that!"

"Lowell has tried to get salads in our school with no sucess. Maybe a larger group can provide more traction with Food Services."

"As a mother of 4 children attending TPS, and practicing vegetarians, I am dismayed that over the 13 years that we have been attending, we have had so little choice in school lunches."

"My kids come home from school ravenous every day. My middle schooler in particular frequently either has no time to eat, or the food she wants they're already out of."

"Tacoma Public Schools, please help us educate the children about healthy choices and then show them what true healthy choices look like."

Please add your voice to the throng! Sign the Healthier Tacoma School Lunches Petition now.