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Students Launch Campaign For Fresher Food, More Options, Better Pay

Above Photo: Students from YES (Youth Empowered in the Struggle) participate in a press conference to launch “School Lunch Justice” campaign on Thursday, March 31, 2022 at the MPS Central Office Building at 5225 W. Vliet St. in Milwaukee. Angela Peterson / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Calling attention to the lack of fresh food in their lunches at Milwaukee Public Schools, student leaders have launched a “school lunch justice” campaign outside the district’s central offices.

The students are part of Youth Empowered in the Struggle (YES), the multiracial youth arm of Voces de La Frontera, an advocacy organization for the rights of immigrants and workers.

“Our lunches are cooked in a central location and distributed to the schools to be reheated, resulting in undercooked food and of substandard quality,” said YES leader Katherine Villanueva, a senior at Milwaukee School of Languages. “This is not acceptable.”

Villanueva said YES surveyed more than 1,000 MPS students and found that the quality of school lunch was the “most pressing issue” with the school environment.

The students are calling for meals to be cooked fresh in their schools with more options, accommodations for religious practices, and larger portions.

“The issue leaves kids not eating, then staying hungry throughout the day, making them less attentive, tired and irritable, leading to a worse education and a group of unhappy students,” said William Pickard, a YES member and freshman at Hamilton High School.

The students said Thursday that they are launching their campaign now for consideration in the upcoming MPS budgeting process for the next school year.

“I should be able to have fresh and stable food, and to have a healthy meal every single day,” said Doricela Herrera, a YES member and freshman at Milwaukee School of Languages.

MPS leaders last fall did allocate some federal COVID relief funds toward nutrition, putting about $4.6 million toward remodeling a central kitchen to allow for training, testing recipes and providing educational programs. They also put $12 million toward “stop, grab and go” food sites and distribution of fresh foods — $3 million of which is specifically supposed to support fresh fruit and vegetable options daily.

MPS leaders also set aside $30,000 for promotional materials to recruit nutrition staff. The YES students want to see higher wages for cafeteria workers, and asked to meet regularly with board members and administrators about the issue.

“We need to be fed, but our staff needs to pay their bills and provide for their families,” said Zoe Smith, a YES member and sophomore at Ronald Reagan High School.

The group is collecting signatures for their campaign through an online petition on Change.org.

Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of Voces de la Frontera, said the lunch justice campaign will also be highlighted as part of the two-day “Day Without Latinxs and Immigrants” general strike planned for May 1 and 2, to coincide with May Day.

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