If not for federally subsidized school lunches, many kids would have nothing to eat.
But FOX Chicago News discovered billions of dollars worth of good food gets thrown away by schools each year — food that is never opened, never cooked and perfectly edible.
Our cameras found some of those lunches in the garbage at Chicago-area schools. Lunches paid for with your tax dollars.
Sources told FOX Chicago News the most food is thrown away on days when kids don’t like what’s on the menu.
Studies estimate kids all across the us waste about $2 billion in taxpayer money through the national school lunch program.
At $2.40 a meal that adds up to a lot of wasted lunches.
Federal studies show girls waste more than boys, and younger kids waste more than older ones. The foods they throw away most often are predictable — salad, fruit and vegetables.
Studies also found the length of the lunch period also plays into how much food is wasted. If lunch periods are too short, too early, or too late, kids waste more food.
But if school kids can’t or won’t eat those subsidized lunches, soup kitchens say they are happy to take the unwanted food off the schools’ hands.
Still, many schools hesitate to donate their unwanted food even though the federal government encourages them to donate.
Some schools are concerned about liability issues if someone becomes sick from eating donated food, even though a federal law protects food donors from lawsuits.
There is one catch to donating school lunches to food pantries — leftover food must be kept refrigerated when it’s picked up and delivered. And recipients must be a bonafide non-profit like a soup kitchen.
Read the original article from FOX Chicago News.
Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services