The CMS Food system: Is it meeting students’ needs?

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) food system offers support to families, but concerns about food quality have raised questions among students. 

In the last two years there have been different reports of students finding unidentifiable items in foods and not being provided with a replacement. Despite reports to CMS, students feel their concerns are often dismissed or inadequately addressed.

Amelia Johnston, a student at East Mecklenburg High School, described an experience in seventh grade where she found mold in her food and decided never to eat school lunches again. She said “The school lunch is fake and the lunch ladies should put more of an effort in.”

Opinions about the school food system often vary based on socioeconomic background. Most of the time people from an upper class family think the school food system isn’t safe or healthy, but most people from an underclass family are appreciative of the food. 

CMS has stayed silent as students and parents have repeatedly reported about the problems they have and how that could be affecting the students' learning ability. Some people believe that CMS has the free lunch policy that is for all CMS schools because of the bad food problem. 

Two students I interviewed, Maya and Adam, both have similar opinions on lunch. “ I get the food every day, and it’s really good,” said Maya, a student. However, she admitted that two weeks ago, she found mold in her chicken sandwich but continues to eat school lunches.

'It’s not the best, but it’s food, and it gets me through the day,' said Adam. Adam explained that it's cheap for him to eat lunch that is provided for free instead of going out and buying food to bring to school.

Students are working hard to fight against CMS because they feel they should eat healthy and they should be heard. They feel that CMS is not solving problems or finding solutions.