Desperate students are still taking to Twitter to reveal the horrors of school lunch under First Lady Michelle Obama’s rules, including empty chicken nuggets and complaints that meals taste like "prison food."
While the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) raves about "locally sourced chicken sandwiches" that meet nutrition standards served in a school district in South Carolina, students across the country complain about what they are eating under the new rules.
"My poor little sister has to eat prison food #ThanksMichelleObama," one student tweeted on Friday.
Students are unhappy about their "chickpea sliders" and whole grain pizza, mandated by the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act, which was championed by Mrs. Obama. The USDA has a 33-page guide—complete with flow charts—telling schools how they can meet the whole grain requirements.
#ThanksMichelleObama "chickpea sliders" pic.twitter.com/VqabTC4WiG
— HB (@_hashbrownn) January 13, 2015
Many students complain about meager portions. One student was served only a plate of nachos with a side of coffee-flavored fat-free milk.
"This is not anywhere near enough...." tweeted another, with a picture of an unidentified piece of mystery meat.
"WHAT IS THIS!??!,?!!?" a student tweeted about their meat serving. Examples of questionable meat servings are numerous.
@MichelleObama #ThanksMichelleObama WHAT IS THIS!??!,?!!? pic.twitter.com/jgHNm07G7G
— Will (@willlpowerss) January 16, 2015
"#ThanksMichelleObama for my empty chicken nugget ," another said.
Unappetizing selections also include "soggy rice" and rotten fruit. Students tweet pictures of rotting pears, "Chris Brown-ified" bananas, and nasty oranges.
#thanksmichelleobama for this delicious chris brown-ified fruit. pic.twitter.com/no2pExoGGn
— prince hans (@Childhans) January 15, 2015
Meager portions are a common complaint about the standards. A school in Texas served tacos with barely any meat in them. Parents said the meat filled the size of a "thimble."
"I first thought it had to be a mistake or the kids were messing around. And then when he told me that’s all we got, it’s just a little shocking," said one parent of a high school student in Burleson, Texas.
"Any reasonable person can see there’s not enough meat on that taco," an administrator said.
School districts in New York are also facing problems with food waste. Nearly every state in the country saw an uptick in food waste after the standards took effect.
"If we cut up 20 pounds of cucumbers, we guess that 17 pounds get thrown away," a food service director in Canton, N.Y., said. "I’ve watched kids take their cup of vegetables or fruit they’re required to take and just throw it away."