SAVE OUR SCHOOL LUNCHES

Grilled cheese, onion rings, garlicky green beans and Tostitos chips with salsa. That's what was on the lunch menu one day at the end of the 2018-19 school year at many New York City public schools. Two days later, students got chicken and waffles with home fries and creamed spinach. Fried carbs and a sad vegetable: This is what school lunches look like in much of America. It's a little hard to swallow when you realize that a sample lunch in Greece includes baked chicken over orzo, while kids in Italy get local fish on a bed of arugula. Probably not unrelated: The US has among the highest childhood obesity rates in the world. But many concerned parents, nutritionists and advocates say that reasoning is a bunch of baloney. A 2015 study found that students ate more fruit and did not throw out more of their meals under the new standards, and a 2016 study found no link between the type of food and food waste.