Last week I wrote a first-person account of my research into school lunches in Rhode Island. This week I’m back, writing on the same subject, with updates on what I’ve learned, and a request for your help.

Whether you consider this a big story, or just a curiosity, the potential research necessary to understand what’s happening is extensive. Because the federal government chose to offer free breakfast and lunch to all students in the United States of America, there are stories to be told in every school, every community.

At least, I think so.

A few readers reached out last week to praise the reporting, which revealed that the new federal program is disproportionately benefitting the state’s wealthiest communities. According to my own analysis of meals taken (last week I used the phrase “meals consumed,” but an astute reader pointed out to me that we can’t assume the meal is consumed, just because it’s taken, since we know much of the food ends up in the trash), the new program has had a bigger impact — measured by more meals and more money — on the wealthier suburban districts than it has on the distressed, urban districts.

A few readers also shared a medley of insults. One Facebook poster chastised my reporting and said, “let the kids eat.” Another claimed the analysis was flawed because a district like Providence still receives more money per-student than a district like Barrington. True, but that’s a different analysis altogether. The fact remains that families and students living in places like Barrington, North Kingstown, East Greenwich, Jamestown, Lincoln, Smithfield, etc. have seen the greatest increases in free meals, ever since the feds decided to make all meals free. And that happened despite the program’s stated intent to “provide access to free, healthy meals for our most vulnerable students, particularly those whose communities have been hardest hit by the pandemic.”

Here’s what else I’ve seen or heard in the past week …

‘Take food – it’s free!’

The same day last week’s story published, I attended a girls’ basketball game at Barrington High School. On my way in, I noticed the hot pink sign shown in the photo on this page. There were actually four of them around the school’s foyer, posted prominently where hundreds of students pass every day. More orange signs with the same message were posted near another school entrance.

The message piqued my curiosity, so I asked the school administration who posted it and why. Superintendent of Schools Michael Messore said he checked with the high school and they don’t know who posted them or how long they have been in place. At press time on Monday, the question still had not been answered by anyone at the school or administration.

Also at Barrington High School, something unusual took place last week. For two consecutive days, a nutritionist stationed herself at the exit/checkout from the kitchen and scrutinized students’ food choices. According to numerous students eating lunch in the high school cafeteria those days, she chastised them for choosing unhealthy meals and sent them back into the kitchen to take fruits and vegetables along with their cheeseburgers, pizza slices, etc. She also told them the lunches would be free only if they took fruits and vegetables.

Prior to last week, there were seemingly no restrictions on the food choices. Students had been grabbing fast-food type of meals with no requirements for fruits and vegetables for the entire school year. All those meals were free.

On the first day the nutritionist was in the cafeteria, students apparently began taking the food because they were forced to — items like apples, oranges, broccoli, etc. — and then throwing much of it in the trash. The whole scene spurred the school’s vice principal to pass through the cafeteria, calling out to students to hand back food they weren’t going to eat.

No records of types of foods

Prompted by the unusual events at Barrington High School, I decided to do more research. I asked the district administration a few more questions about the food program. I asked if the outside vendor, Chartwells, maintains records for what types of foods or meals are taken by students. I was told they do not.

I then asked to see invoices showing payments to Chartwells from the fall of 2019 (pre-pandemic) and the fall of 2021. What I found is shown in the table accompanying this story — a 40% increase in the cost of food. The gross cost of food in Chartwells invoices from October to December of 2019 was $114,281; that cost rose to $159,967 during the same period in 2021.

As a reminder, here’s the path of the money in school food programs. The private vendor purchases, prepares and distributes the food. Meals taken are recorded as the students exit the kitchen in a software program (Barrington uses “My School Bucks”) that has an account for every student. Monthly, the vendor invoices the school district for the cost of goods (food), labor and fees, and the district pays the vendor directly. Separately, the district collects reimbursements for the meals.

In pre-pandemic times, the district collected the money from two primary sources — the federal government’s free-and-reduced lunch funds, and the families paying for their children’s meals via My School Bucks. These days, the portals like My School Bucks are mostly irrelevant, because the federal government, via the Rhode Island Department of Education, is paying almost 100% of the tab.

What do you know?

Here’s what I need from readers … More insights; more ideas. What is happening in your child’s school? How has your district or your school communicated with you? Do you know what your children are taking from the school cafeterias? Have you learned anything about the program in your district? What else would you like to learn about these programs? Feel free to email me: spickering@eastbaymediagroup.com. I welcome more people at this table.