They did say in the story that they had specifically told the parents they would be checking, but it didn't give much detail on whether that was a consensual check or not...

Stay with it! Every mind counts,

So would I. But it has been my experience that most never ponder the idea. So I throw it out there whenever I can. Kind of like a pet project.

I think you know I'd like to do away with public schools entirely.

No. I expect parents to point it out and discuss it openly, at length and demand changes. Such as eliminating the entire school lunch program. Feed your own children. When did that become unacceptable and unexpected behavior anyway?

"Yeah but we're still paying for them to go into the trash."

You expect Marxist Michele to admit an idea of hers is not working? -):

Yeah but we're still paying for them to go into the trash. Paying workers and cooks and servers. Colossal waste. Not to mention this teaches kids that wastefulness is okay...And to them it's free too and no one points out to them how the food is being paid for by others and they're throwing other people's money away. Bad messages all around. I don't understand why that concept Isn't taught in school. OR at home either apparently.

The kids are shrugging. I've read that over a million children have stopped eating the approved meals since they began serving them in 2012.

"Federal Standards..." barf
Why the hell are we peaking into students lunch bags? The schools do NOT own our kids. I wish someone would take some photos of the numerous full trash bags full of food at the end of a school lunch period. The vast majority of the 'healthy' food that is forced onto school lunch plates goes straight into the trash untouched. And we're supposed to feel good about the schools going broke to serve "Federal Standardized" lunches in school? Every 'fix' they come up with costs more and makes things worse. Why aren't parents screaming????