Palo Alto Unified continues to serve free breakfast and lunch for all students

It is wonderful that PAUSD is providing healthy meals to children in need. Well done!

However, I can't help but notice that's a lot of plastic in that photo. Can the food service please switch to paper bags and waxed paper or provide families with reusable lunch boxes that can be filled with less plastic? Plastic waste is a serious problem in our oceans, and it is entering our food streams. Let's make this good deed better by making sure that we leave our children a healthy planet that will sustain them their whole lives.

Thank you for taking good care of our community's children and their future.

Taking care of children in need is heartwarming. Plastic is the obvious choice. If they switch to paper then the tree huggers will complain. Reusable lunch boxes doesn't make any sense during a pandemic. Perhaps it's time to relax and let others do what they do without your interference because it doesn't fit your political agenda. It really is that simple.

Another option would be the use of sectioned metal plate/trays like we had in the service along with metal spoons and forks.

All washable and re-usable with no adverse impact on the environment.

No need to “scold” the user “CYO.” CYO is absolutely correct about cutting down the amount of plastic being used. That was a great suggestion. Although it may not be feasible to do so right now during the pandemic, reusable options should be looked at once things get back to normal if the standard is serving everything in plastic. This isn’t just “fear mongering”, here are some shocking facts about plastic:

Web Link

[Portion removed.]

As for the meals, I think this is great. I am happy the kids get fed. Incredible deal for the parents. Schools provide not one, but two(!) free or reduced priced meals and basically sort of free child care for the day with the property tax money(we all have to pay taxes anyway). Paying for actual day care is super expensive. The schools take care of the children Monday through Friday for about 8 hours a day and feed them. What a deal! Thank you to all of those making these meals possible for our children.

[Post removed.]

In the real world, feeding hungry children would take precedence over bio-degradable utensils and plates.

Wow, providing two meals for the children is fantastic. It will make life easier
for the parents too!