Wis. student bemoans Obama school lunches, organizes boycott
By RYAN GORMAN
A Wisconsin high school senior claims First Lady Michelle Obama's school lunch reforms have caused her school to serve smaller portions of processed foods.
Meghan Hellrood, who attends D.C. Everest High, in Westin, has organized a school lunch boycott while claiming the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act works against its two primary goals.
"We have calorie regulations now on our lunches, so students cannot take as much food as they used to be able to," she told local radio station WSAU. "The whole point of it was to get healthier foods, but instead of healthier foods, we're getting smaller portions of more processed foods."
To help classmates have better, more filling lunches, Hellrood has organized a "Pack-A-Bag" day boycotting the lunches served by the school.
All students are being encouraged by Hellrood and friends to bring their own lunches on November 13.
School officials took down posters hung in the hallways, but she told WSAU she believes word of mouth and a Facebook site will help make the boycott a success.
Students are already forced to bring their own food to school because the lunches aren't enough, she claims.
They have to pack more food themselves to go along with the school food. So, they're getting two meals," Hellrood told the station. "One is from school but they're bringing the other one."
Cafeteria staff even regulate how many packets of mayonnaise and barbecue sauce students can take. Hellrood brings her own mayo to school and freely hands it out in defiance of the rules.
"I'm 4-11 and weigh 90 pounds and I want more food," she quipped. "I can't imagine the senior guys on the football team."
Hellrood, who is also editor-in-chief of her school newspaper, has the full support of her parents.
Even though they give them 800 calories, which would seem like a reasonable amount for a smaller child, it's not the kind of food that children want to eat," father Jim Hellrood told WSAU.
The Hellroods are hardly the first people to complain about the new school lunches being served since the Obama rules went into effect.
Facebook and Twitter are full of pictures of the smaller, less filling meals.
Private schools like the one attended by the president's children, though, are free to serve whatever they like – fattening or not.
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