And not trying to derail my original post further,,, My district is 100% free breakfast and free lunch. You don't even have to go to our school, if you walk in our door with a child 0 - 18yrs old, we will give them free, a breakfast or a lunch. The adult with them pays $1 for breakfast or $2.50 for lunch, I have to pay if I want to eat, I am staff. My gripe here,, even if a student eats breakfast at home, when they get to school they are served a meal they don't need or want in most cases. They can't say "No thanks, I already ate" so they take a meal, and walk by the trash can and drop the whole meal into the the can. And my district is how many millions in the hole?
I have a lunch group that eats in the classroom with me every single day. Some go get their meal and bring it back, others bring their lunch and hide like criminals so they don't have to go take a lunch they will throw away.
They are not supposed to share food, if they don't eat their apple it goes in the trash,, hah! Not on my watch it doesn't! We collect the fruit and save it for a snack for later and the rolls tend to end up chicken snacks. We have a code,, it's Cheepers! Someone takes a baggie,, and says Cheepers! That means slowly hide the chicken snack in the baggie! The kitchen staff know,, and they don't say a word,, my administration agrees that the loss of food and money is horrible in our cafeterias. If we didn't serve those who don't need the food, we wouldn't throw so much away. A lot of kids eat before school but a lot can't,, and I'm so happy we do serve them!