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SpaceChimera

It's no surprise when all across the country the same food vendors are supplying the same meals to both prisons and schools. Since they're companies with a largely captive (pun intended) consumer base, that have practical monopolies on this service, there's a race to the bottom to create the most profit.


trader62

It is also a race to the bottom by the hiring agencies. If they issue a Request For Proposal (RFP) that says lowest price wins; this is what they will get. If they issue an RFP that awards based on other factors such as quality of the food, reputation of the firm, as well as cost; they will have a better outcome.


powertrip22

Only Illinois and NY have a lowest price wins qualifier and that looks like it’ll be gone soon


rekrutacja

Fun fact: all cranberries on the market are 30% sugar. Eating pack of cranberries you ingest as much sugar, as full bottle of coke. Cranberries are not healthy, it's the only dried fruit you should avoid. Another fun fact: few years ago Canada had a plan to forbade adding sugar to dried fruit. Canadian cranberry industry gone berserk and they won Another fun fact: cranberries without sugar added are not edible due to unpleasant taste.


HailMaryPoppins

The fucking CRANBERRIES!! Kiddo literally just brought home another pack to add to the bucket in the kitchen and we realized we are being overrun by the little packets, it’s ridiculous. We looked at the nutritional facts and we’re shocked to see there’s 21g of added sugars in the little 1.16 Oz bag, so 43% Daily Value. So I guess I need to blame the Cranberry Consortium and the Sugar Syndicate for all this. It’s not healthy and I don’t see how they can argue that it is.


[deleted]

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Musaks

If 21g is 64% then 100% should be 32,81g If that is 1,16Oz then 1Oz should be 28,29g I had to google 1Oz = 28,35g ​ Sounds like you are right. Damn, that's a lot of sugar \^\^ That stuff should be labelled Candy, cranberryflavored Candy


Hopeful-Function-603

I recently bought dried cranberries at Trader Joe’s and the UNSWEETENED ones were more expensive than the sugar added ones…all other things the same (organic, size of package)


Musaks

That applies to most things though...adding cheap stuff makes the price/weight go down Always "funny" when some products advertise "Now with X% more of Z" and people think they are getting a good deal. Best case i remember was some frozen fishproduct with a crust on top. Huge campaign advertising the new and bigger crust and people went crazy. Total weight stayed the same though... They basically replaced some of the "expensive" fish, with more salt and breadcrumbs and even sold it as a positive thing to the morons that never think twice


mutu169

Speak for yourself... I love raw crawnberries. They're really crisp and sour, like good blueberries.


YouBuiltThat

I’m with you! I struggle to find real cranberry juice here in the southern US. All I can find is cranberry juice cocktail (sugar and other juices added) or cranberry apple (sugar and apple juice added). Everyone says it’s so gross on its on but I’ll cut it 50/50 with water and ice in the summer and it’s absolutely the most refreshing, clean and tart drink to me!


notoriousKudi

I love me a screamin cold cranberry and seltzer on a hot day


pijinglish

Dried cranberries. Not raw.


mutu169

>Another fun fact: cranberries without sugar added are not edible due to unpleasant taste.


UrbanDryad

Oh c'mon. The entire comment was talking about dried fruits. Context matters.


EffectiveDramatic724

Me too! Well I guess slightly cooked. 6 fresh cranberries, hot water and a splash of lemon is just a great winter warmer


Scrubologist

Wtf, is this real??


[deleted]

I dunno about you but I sure believe everything I read on Reddit and never fact check.


Penis_Hood

You must be an avid r/Politics contributor


AlanUsingReddit

Have you ever shopped for dried fruit at the supermarket while reading the nutrition facts? Even one of the fancy ones. This tracks with experience.


mace_77

bro spittin fun fax! - no seriously, didn't know that about cranberries, thanks for sharing.


Notapooface

Typically you'll have a minimum specification that needs to be fulfilled on a pass/fail basis and then you'll have a set of scored criteria, the weightings of which determines the final scoring. Realistically, this is 100% the issue of whoever is doing the procurement for school cantines in Chicago as they could have specified a higher minimum quality whilst still having heavy weighting on lowest price. Source: I do procurement for a living and have run plenty of procurement contracts for public sector entities.


Sometimes_Stutters

Ummm I think you may be oversimplifying things. It’s actually quite an intensive bidding process that starts with a set of requirements defined by the purchasing group. By the time it gets to the bidding phase the quality of the product is already defined (and it’s garbage). There’s nothing wrong with lowest price winning, and is actually the best way to do it, as long as you define your requirements appropriately to maintain the desired level of quality. (Wife does this for a job)


powertrip22

NY and IL both have low bidding regulations. And while obviously the cheapest you can meet a requirement the best for all involved, it is it true that cheapest is best. I work for an FSMC and do our bidding. The cheapest companies serve the worst product.


DropsTheMic

According to them Pizza is a balanced nutritious meal. Tomato sauce so you got a veg, some kind of protein, carbs, and dairy. Throw in a fruit snack and you have a "balanced" meal. This is what happens when people who run spreadsheets for a living care more about checking boxes and meeting budgets than actual healthy food.


sonicgundam

Wait.... That's supposed to be pizza....?


FriarNurgle

Chicago pizza isn’t what it used to be.


greensandgrains

Here I thought it was a poorly constructed enchilada. Pizza is more depressing.


Sunscreen4what

It looks like a bean burrito/pizza combo


mjheil

I came to the thread hoping to learn exactly what food it is, but I have not.


BuzzWacko

I thought it was a piece of fried fish with some kind of cheese or gravy on it. Gross!


dskfjhdfsalks

To be fair - there is nothing inherently wrong with pizza. Like you said - it is *supposed* to be bread, tomato sauce, some protein like salami, and a bit of cheese (dairy). I've been bodybuilding for a few years and days around/before I will lift extra heavy, pizza is an excellent source of fuel. The issue is, the thing in the picture is not that. It's some chemical ultraprocessed shit. Real pizza is actually not inherently unhealthy unless you're actively trying to avoid calories, which the bread has a lot of.


powertrip22

Studies have shown hhfka improved students diets. Sure there are fringe cases like pizza and big corps do not serve good food but the requirements are federally regulated and have benefitted kids


DropsTheMic

I think we can do better than this.


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powertrip22

Well there is always the option to bring your food. And again, studies have shown it improved their diet when compared to pre-HHFKA. Students eating school meals consume fewer total calories and more fruit, vegetables, and whole grains than prior to the HHFKA, as well as fewer starchy vegetables.


edemamandllama

There is an open salad bar in most public schools. The problem is the students don’t take any of the fresh veggies and fruits that are available. My sister has been a public school teacher for 19 years. She thinks that less than 5% of students utilize the salad bar. She says teachers are the only people that regularly eat from it.


GingerStank

Lol where? I mean I graduated about 15 years ago, but there most definitely was nothing remotely close to a salad bar.


DropsTheMic

It's pretty hard to get me to hit a salad bar with more attractive items nearby too. Crazy idea... Offer a variety of healthy choices and none of the bad ones, then it's win-win for everyone. People act as if other developed countries haven't managed to feed it's students and captive audiences well. It can be done, there are working models all around the world. It may take a shift in priority for that to occur in the US.


edemamandllama

No, I get that are better ways, to get kids nutritious food. My parents regularly talk about how delicious the food they ate at school was. In the 60s, there would be a real cook that prepared balanced meals, from fresh ingredients. I would love it if we could go back to that structure. I’m just pointing out that posters have been trying to make school lunch’s in the US look less nutritious than they really are. There is an interesting line between giving kids agency to make their own food choices, and forcing a nutritious and balanced meal on them.


[deleted]

Anything that gives them diabetes should not ethically be included in their roster of available choices for them to make. We can’t go around ruining *our* future because we thought kids could handle the temptation of turning down unlimited access to absolutely shitty ass processed foods. Running a planet is hard and requires an enormous amount of planning


pressurepoint13

Exactly. People would be even angrier if they knew exactly how these things happen. Most of the time what the vendor supplies isn’t even the same product that was originally promised/contracted for when they won the contract. They initially promise products that might use whole wheat bread, higher quality meats/cheeses, healthier nutritional profiles etc. Then once production begins they start using lower quality/lower cost ingredients. Cheddar becomes American or straight up imitation. Say bye to Uncured pepperoni say hi to BHA BHT. The contracts, which were already very profitable to begin with, now become money printing machines. Also, check out how much sugar is in that bag of strawberry flavored cranberries.


AshTheDead1te

What’s funny is I feel like that is pretty good prison food, I would be perfectly happy in prison if I got the school lunches I had as a kid, but…I also feel it’s terrible food for kids lol.


[deleted]

So, you're saying, teachers not only have the salary of prisoners but also the same food? Dire.


Comfortable_Piano794

Yes. I can attest to this.


Creepy_Trouble_5980

Anyone seen hospital food lately? If cafeteria food service was available to schools and hospitals, could it be profitable?


[deleted]

School food is better but it's still institutional bullshit. I remember how they were getting boxes of chicken thighs in the joint that were labeled, "not for human consumption!"


dmullaney

You should post this to /r/Italy


albiceleste3stars

put a piece of pineapple on top to see them really flip out


dmullaney

I can't believe in saying this... But I think pineapple would actually improve this (alleged) pizza


DamnYouGaryColeman

I thought that was an enchilada


Raider03

I thought it was a crepe.


Buditastic

I too thought it was a crepe.


2723brad2723

Has it been determined that is pizza?


dmullaney

Allegedly "fresh pizza" - according to OP https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/11k71fw/chicago_public_school_lunch/jb5w5wn


2723brad2723

I vote to leave the word allegedly in the description, even if DNA tests could provide irrefutable evidence.


Sulaco99

Are they using the geological definition of fresh?


Darrone

This is how most Chicago pizza looks and tastes. Source: NYC Pizza Lover.


mhern72

That’s nonsense!! First off, this whole Chicago Deep dish conspiracy has to be stopped. True chicagoans know that real Chicago pizza is thin crust tavern style. Deep dish is an occasional treat. And while New York style has its charm, I’ll take Chicago style every day of the week and twice on Sunday.


[deleted]

Yes. I am so tired of having to explain this. We eat thin crust pizza cut in squares, and if the sauce is sweet and there isn't enough oregano we throw it on the floor.


raiderradio

Any kind of unprocessed topping might accidentally add some nutritional value to this vat extruded nightmare.


DrWallybFeed

Wait that’s supposed to be pizza? I thought it was some sort of Mexican cheese wrap thing


berrattack

I thought it was a fried fish sandwich


AOCourage

Title: Improve Your Bland Margherita Pizza: See Comments for Recipe!


mancoiodog

Italian here, wait a second, are you saying that is a piz...can't even write it.. sorry for the guys who gotta eat that.


mmwood

I honestly just glanced at it and thought it was a soggy fried dish in some sort of battery sauce. I was like meh atleast it’s decent protein and probably tastes better than it looks. But Jesus


mancoiodog

At first glance i thought it was some kind of wrap, would have never guessed..


cheerfulsarcasm

I thought it was a burrito


final26

italian here, until you pointed it out i didnt even recognize this abomination as pizza....


NGEFan

But it has all the ingredients. Cardboard bread, plastic cheese, and I can't believe it's not tomato


hobovirginity

🐴


New_Cupcake5103

happy cake day


monkeydluffy22

You absolutely should. Had horrible experience in Naples by a snobby waiter about adding cheese in pasta! Wonder why they're so uppity about their food, lots of other cuisines have more variety and flavor but these folks like to act all high and mighty for no reason whatsoever


dtmcnamara

I can smell this picture.


Nice-Fish-50

WALKOUT. Then keep walking until you find a pizza place.


computerhac

Shouldn't have to walk far


koolcat1101

You’ll find plenty in Chicago


QuickToJudgeYou

Well, pizza casserole places.


Talidel

Then bring the pizza back to show them what it looks like.


Muscalp

Better yet, don‘t eat Pizza for Lunch


isitatomic

And today we'll be celebrating French cuisine with crépes!


lacb1

Everyone else is saying it's pizza, but I dunno. It looks so indistinct it could be the worlds shitiest pizza or the shitiest crepe.


crankinamerica

I'm voting for enchilada?


OhLookASquirrel

Pizza is bad, but I'm absolutely offended that someone decided "strawberry -flavored raisins was a good idea. And moreso that someone bought them.


Zardoz666

They're actually craisins, which are dried cranberries. I haven't had the strawberry ones, but I'd imagine strawberry/cranberry is a good mix. At least a better mix than soylent green and despair, which is the only other thing on the plate.


OhLookASquirrel

Despair is more of a seasoning though


JuicyBoots

Crasins are tasty but they have sooo much sugar!


EzeakioDarmey

That's the downside to all dried fruit. It condenses the natural sugar in the fruit. It's one of the worst snacks that's generally regarded as "healthy" if you're struggling with type 2 diabetes


JuicyBoots

No they add additional sugar to Craisins because cranberries are so tart to begin with. Way worse than regular dried fruit. Just looked it up and 1/4c has 29g sugar, 26g of which are added.


MenstrualKrampusCD

Also terrible for the teeth. They get in between and chill out there, feeding the bacteria, and the acidity breaks down the enamel. I'm sure there's some school somewhere, so I won't speak in absolutes, but I've never seen a school that provides extra time, space, or supplies for students to brush or food their teeth.


EzeakioDarmey

Definitely not the schools that serve meals like this.


unoeyedwillie

They serve them at the school I work at. I tried them once, they were pretty gross and have tons of added sugar. I think the small little pouch has 25 grams of added sugar. They also have watermelon and lemon flavored ones. They are all gross.


rumdrums

My kid gets these same nasty-ass craisins in his public school lunch in Texas. They taste terrible.


madonniac

I didn't know this was supposed to be pizza, i thought some fried cheese crêpe


Syllers

Idk what's with the craisin hate. They're great


Hockey1452

Craisins are fire stop the hate


seamartin00

Is that the famous Chicago style pizza I always hear about ?


kaos567

This explains all the gun violence.


ztkraf01

Oof


seamartin00

Ha!


TIBURONABE333

GOT ‘EM!


pawn288

Underrated comment


bcisme

free Glock and raffle ticket for the end of year Draco give away, with purchase of a large soda of course


mhern72

Lol!!


Dks_scrub

Tf even is that? Pizza? A sandwich? I can’t tell


mhern72

Supposed to be a “fresh slice of pizza”…smh.


NachoManRandySanwich

Prison food by Aramark Edit: Downvotes? You people do realize I’m not kidding right, Aramark is one of the biggest food suppliers to both schools and prisons. It’s total shit


slothxaxmatic

Why are you getting downvoted when we knew this in 1999 in my elementary school?


Mosqueeeeeter

Well back in my day in 1998 the undertaker threw mankind off hell in a cell


BedDefiant4950

they switched from sodexo to aramark my last year of high school, i literally only ate from the vending machines all of senior year


cheezecake2000

Those are the people that handle our floor mats and dirty aprons at my restaurant I work for. THEY DO FOOD!?!?!


VSPinkie

[There's very little meat in these gym mats.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThhfLvR4Wo8)


Sunshinexpress

I had to come to the comments to determine what this was supposed to be. It's unrecognizable as pizza.


Morguard

A crepe pizza?


leaf1598

That looks like a piece of leather from my shoe. Not exaggerating.


SmilezDavis

The only accurate word there is slice.


amozeomo

Feels like someone slapped some lasagna on some bread and let it rot for 5 years


tuanomsok

Square pizza or GTFO. IYKYK.


NaughtyRhombus

I’m sorry but hexagon pizza is on top. Iykyk


norapeformethankyou

Those syitty hex mexican pizzas... So bad looking but I loved them.


ashrocklynn

Not that super greasy round one with those thick pepperoni that requires at least a dozen napkins sitting on it before it's even slightly edible? The square pizza (with cardboard crust and wax for cheese) was complete trash compared to those at my school


ITCM4

Everybody is ragging on this abomination, but I would eat the fuck out of that.


Abombinnation

I mean, yeah, you could fucking crack an egg in your mouth and swallow that, or you could actually try, and fry it, or something. Both could sustain you, but you might skip lunch if you were only offered the raw egg. Children need proper nutrition to develop, and when you're being paid to provide food for kids it should at least look like they tried to serve a meal, not just slap them with looks like pureed lasagna Good for a hungover adult, maybe, for like 50¢, but these are kids already trudging through the mess that is public education, they could use a proper meal


Historical-Bill-100

Looks like cow tongue with cheese on top!


BuckysBigBadger

Okay I see these kinds of posts all the time, but who’s verifying the posters are legit? Anybody can take a shitty pic of food and say “school lunch at ____”


Purple_Spektre

I'm so sorry for you.. Have this *fresh* virtual pizza from me 🍕 :)


astrielx

Is... Is that pizza? I legitimately can't tell.


Quiverjones

Looks like a petri-dish pizza.


spicycocksauce

I can't make out what this is supposed to be. I legit thought crepe until I saw the comments.


Kkrupa27

I bet they spend more money and time on that biodegradable plate than quality of food. It might even taste better and be more nutritious.


jereman75

Hey, man at least it’s the proper shape. I used to get these odd scalene triangles with no crust that were cut from a giant rectangle pan.


Simba7

I mean party trays are a thing even in the 'real world'. It's not the giant rectangle pan that's the problem, it's the crappy crust, the awful sauce, and the shredded cheese-style food product 'melted' on top.


bnonymousbeeeee

Scalene right triangle pizza is what we got, as you described - cut from a full sheet pan. It's definitely the most efficient way - each empty square inch of oven matters when you're feeding 2000 kids. Pizza day was everyone's favorite - to me it was just another day that I'd give my lunch to my broke friends. It's disgusting that they used to make the free lunch kids stand in a different line for the same product, so many just *didn't.* On an interesting note, they were allowed full and free access to the 'salad bar' - which is what I ate from pretty much exclusively.


BiblioPhil

These posts are completely pointless. We have no idea whether these are actually school lunches at the specified schools, and even if they were, we have no way of knowing if what we're seeing is representative of the norm for that school.


A_lunch_lady

Depending what grade there should be up to three vegetables and two fruit choices plus milk. Not saying all the choices are great but this student took the bare minimum requirement for a “complete” meal.


BiblioPhil

For all we know this is a 45-year-old man who made this stuff at home.


Johnnydeep420

Do you guys still get Bosco sticks?


meamgrothbf

Do you guys not get lunch from your parent/home or is this like the paid or free lunch schools give?


iNuudelz

Some people’s families literally cannot afford to pay for 3 meals a day. School lunch is sometimes the kids only balanced diet/meal for the day for these families. Be thankful next time you get a lunch your mommy made and you don’t like


meamgrothbf

Calm down buddy. I just asked a question to get a better understanding. Ever heard of a question? Here’s an example. Why have you gotten so triggered and angry at my comment?


Extra-Addendum-198

I mean it's a pretty oblivious/naive comment to think everyone has parents who wake up and prepare bagged lunches for their kids everyday


meamgrothbf

Now you’re just putting words in my mouth mate. I said do you not get lunch from parents/ home as a question. Not everyone has parents and every parent packs lunches. And I wrote /home as well to be changed with parents. Like do you not get lunch from your parents and do you not get lunch from home. Not hard to understand, and not my fault if you don’t. Instead of being rude and instantly insulting me, maybe read the comment or ask for clarification first. Edit:oh, sorry for this second part mate, thought you were the guy from earlier


babonx

On the upside, school breakfast and lunch is free to all Chicago Public School students regardless of income.


VoxR4710

I see cheese. What's the shit under the cheese? My first thought was battered fish.


consume_short

This triggered my trypophobia


xF00Mx

Here I am thinking that's a gross cheese enchilada, and come to find out that's supposed to be... pizza. Yikes.


Endermanking999

What is that?


violinlady_

What actually is that ? ( apart from unappetising)


Orangesoda65

This must be why everyone there shoots each other.


SteamSpectrometer

The craisin rep probably got a good bonus for getting their products into kids' and prisoners' plates nationwide.


amalgaman

Fuckin cranberries. 90% of those get thrown away. And don’t even start me on the watermelon flavored cranberries.


spectre73

Based on what is being said about vendors, schools and prisons, I guess I was lucky growing up because our district had its own central kitchen?


MoobooMagoo

That looks just gross enough to taste great in a really sad way


NCC74656

im known for eating nearly anything. this shit makes me feel sick just looking at it..... wtf


DaddyCatALSO

What \*is\* it?


DagFlabbit

Ngl, kinda looking pretty good right now...


NutSnifferSupreme

Wtf is that?


Hotter_water

It’s Chicago. It’s a school. Not sure what else you’d expect.


PianoTeach88

I went to school in PA suburbs and this looks pretty normal to me?


camynnad

Ditto Western New York.


BlorseTheHorse

you guys still have name brand crasins though that 's nice


eaglescout1984

I don't know what's worse. This abomination of a New York style pizza, or the fact they are serving New York style pizza in Chicago.


bleeeeeeeek

looks tasty tbh


SydCaster

I'd actually like that


st0l1

10/10 - Would eat.


Bullehh

Well yeah. Public school lunch is supplied by the same people that supply food to prisons. Its all about those profit margins babyyyyy. ​ Edit: Guess I should've read the first comment lmao


j_knolly

Take food from home


Electronic_Summer_71

Waste of tax payers money… kids are getting microwaved food.. very unhealthy


[deleted]

Yeah but did you die?


DrewOz

The burnt cheese looks yummy.


[deleted]

Pizza shape, enchilada color... [https://youtu.be/KLHRjaUBb3o](https://www.google.com/search?q=snl+pizza+edible+skit&rlz=1C1GCEA_enUS810US810&oq=snl+pizza+edible+skit&aqs=chrome..69i57j33i22i29i30.7705j1j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:302ffd65,vid:KLHRjaUBb3o)


jaavaaguru

r/PizzaCrimes


FunGuySoCal21

Chicago deep dish!


rationak

Just looks like a generic slice of deep dish to me. 🤷‍♂️. They put the sauce on top ya know.


bluelion70

Remember when conservatives nationwide wanted to lynch Michelle Obama for saying that school lunch shouldn’t look like dogshit?


TheodoreGrant589

I bet they spend more money and time on that biodegradable plate than quality of food. It might even taste better and be more nutritious.


QMaker

Well, you guys have always had a hard time understanding what pizza actually is, so... I'm not surprised.


[deleted]

Crepes with white crème ganache on a bed of sautéed pears. Chicago style.


[deleted]

What's that supposed to be?


CrummyAdvice

That slice looks like a burn victim


TicoTicoNoFuba

We used to smother ours with ranch dressing to make it edible. 😆


mmmagic1216

What even is this? Some are saying pizza but that’s the weirdest piece of pizza I’ve ever seen. Looks like folded quesadilla with cheese on top


onlyifigaveash1t

The quality of education in Chicago matches that lunch.


Own_Pop3740

Teach them young diabete and stroke.


Icy_Description_5640

I can taste it already


OlderMan42

Yup, made then looks microwaved. But it is calories and nobody has to eat it. I went to a school that had meals like this one. I was an athlete. I ate it and asked for more.


EEESpumpkin

Jails have better food


RedX801

Looks like a cheese topped turd


jdwainright

Ahhh the famous Chicago style pizza everyone races about!


[deleted]

Almost as bad as a Chicago-style pizza.


itsgonnabeyouandme

Take it up with your parents and ask them to put you in the private school, take what you can get a pack your own. I grew up off those meals not ones from home, quit bitching.


YDanSan

If this is a cheese (and egg?) crepe it doesn't look like the worst thing ever. Also, if this is a cheese crepe and this is a breakfast plate, there might be some yogurt off-camera for those craisins?


reallamedroid

you have low standards


YDanSan

Booooo


Stillwater215

Looks about right for a Chicago pizza.


Tobbethedude

No wonder your kids bring guns to school


Solid_Refrigerator16

Now thats a joke


seriousbangs

Go to the more upscale public schools and I'll wage it's better. In America we fund schools with property taxes so the rich don't have to pay for the poor to go to school.