School lunch is the butt of countless jokes — and given cafeterias serve up these meals to more than 30.4 million students daily, that's a whole lot of jokes! Lunch ladies (and men) try their best, but take a look at some of the school meals that show up on the internet, and it's not hard to see why these potshots happen.
Because the sad truth is, in spite of Michelle Obama's efforts to improve the quality of these meals, there's still plenty of room for improvement. How much room? Take a stomach-churning look at just how gross school lunch can get.
Yikes, what the heck happened with lunch #2?
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Fish Stick 'Tacos'
Just when you thought it couldn't get worse than Taco Bell, along come these sad fish stick "tacos." We see the tortilla and the half-eaten sticks, but where's the lettuce, beans and salsa? This gives Mexican food a bad name.
Stamped and ... Approved?
Is this some new way to indicate a food's expiration date? Did the conveyor belt run out of plastic packaging? Or are we now decorating hamburger buns like cakes?
Mac 'n Cheese
Throw some American cheese on top of macaroni and voila: mac 'n cheese! Er, sort of.
REALLY Aged Pork
Just this April, schools in Tennesee served up 6-year-old pork to their kids. And it was no accident: The school apparetntly knew the frozen meat's age, yet deliberately thawed it out and cooked it up. Thankfully a disgusted cafeteria worker took this photo and blew the whistle.
More from The Stir: Bad Cafeteria Food: Would You Protest It?
Pizza
Is it really possible to mess up pizza? Apparently so. For one, you can slap on slabs of American cheese (that square shape is a dead giveaway). From there, you add some tiny turd-like dots of mystery meat, then dry it all out under some heat lamps all day. We may never look at pizza the same way again.
Pork Chop Slop
Yes, visuals matter. And there's just something about this pork chop served up at school that makes our stomach turn. It looks more like a science experiment than lunch.
Nachos
Kids should be happy to eat nachos for lunch, right? Well, not at this school. Maybe it would have helped if they added more chips and less meat. Or maybe not.
Burrito
Let's play a game, kids: What's missing from this burrito? It looks like it's got rice and a few shreds of cheese, but where are the beans, meat, and veggies to round out this sad excuse for school lunch?
More from The Stir: Why I Refuse to Let My Kids Eat School Cafeteria Lunches
Corn Dog & Fries
Apparently this school did not get the "serve them healthier food" memo. Looks more like this school's trying to give their students heart attacks before they graduate.
Sad Sausage Patty
Sausage patty or hockey puck? We're not sure what the rest of this lunch looked like (assuming there was more to it), but this does not bode well.
Broccoli Custard?
Well, we appreciate the attempt to include vegetables. Only we're not sure if this "broccoli custard" (for lack of any other description!) really stokes our appetites.
Hamburger Soup
Apparently these cafeteria workers think that ground beef patties taste better served in congealed liquid rather than on a bun. Er, we're not sure if the kids agree.
More from The Stir: Schools Are Sneaking Pink Slime Back Into Kids' Lunch
