More CPS Lunch Controversy

When schools start banning homemade lunches you begin to wonder if things have gone too far. Such is the current state of the cafeteria at numerous Chicago Public Schools (CPS), where one West Side principal dubiously reasoned, “Nutrition wise, it is better for the children to eat at the school.” Really? The decision to ban lunches brought from home is currently not a district-wide ban and is left to the discretion of each individual school’s principal.

While the ban is clearly grounded in a well-intentioned attempt to prevent kids from ditching the new, healthier lunches in favor of cookies, chips, and soda brought from home, many believe the ban is a violation of a parent’s right to choose what their child eats. The controversy is heightened by those who stand to benefit financially from the ban: Chartwells-Thompson, the district’s food provider. [Chicago Tribune]