School Lunch: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

[@sabocatteacher1150]

Hi John, Mandi Jung here. Thanks for the feature, but now all my students are clamoring to make 2L terrariums and those things STINK 😂

[@evangonzalez2245]

Thanks for being the cool teacher, you make a great difference in those kids lives ❤

[@kyledaugherty1609]

But you could call it "Jungian Topology" though! (thanks for being a teacher btw)

[@BlackSheepCap]

Thats what you get for doing a good thing you monster

[@Mmcastro447]

Thank you so much for everything you do! Teachers like you are why I made it through school.

[@StillAwesome21]

You're a legend

[@Huntracony]

"School lunch debt" is such a dystopian phrase.

[@CollectionOfCells]

Omg ikr

[@lsmith8659]

sickening! 14:50 - the most disturbing part is these places where school lunch debt becomes accusations of neglect and threats of foster care! WTF 🤯🤯🤯 criminalizing the poor is a real revenue generator in this country smh.. poverty industrial complex? 🤔🤣

[@tommymaxey2665]

Yep it's crazy. I never ate a single meal of hot lunch and somehow I still had a lunch meal debt? I brought a cold lunch everyday and somehow I still owed them money

[@triopsate3]

I mean to be fair, it really is quite American. We trap people in debt for basic necessities like health care and education already so it only makes sense to that if you're gonna be in debt for the rest of your life, you might as well start young to make sure they're used to it and know their place. /s

[@amg503]

18:20 NC voters, please remove this heathen from office.

[@LouienDottie]

I was born and raised in Brazil, a third world country as some say, and school meals were, every day, cooked from scratch, and we could get seconds and even third servings- rice and beans with stir fried veggies; pasta with meat sauce; rice pudding; fresh fruit; soups… I miss it. Insane how the US thinks it’s an advanced country when it starves its children in school, preventing them from learning.

[@NWPaul72]

There's a large subset of our society that equates deprivation and suffering with character development. "We didn't even have pants when I was a kid and it made me what I am today!" What, a bitter, penny pinching rageaholic?

[@NWPaul72]

​@@youtubegarbage7876he didn't say Rio, or even which Rio. Are you one of those who thinks California is Disneyland?

[@TheTrendDoctor]

@@NWPaul72 he probably thinks Rio is Brazil. Same as Africa is a country.

[@theresabu3000]

While I agree that an improvement in quality would be great too - that every kid can get a free school lunch is the first battle. I mean having healthy food would be my preference, but that's not easy to accomplish.

[@maria-wu7us]

Same in Puerto Rico public schools. At least years ago when I was kid... I don't think that's changed though

[@lexismith9549]

I’m a substitute teacher. Last week, a group of girls in the fourth grade class I was covering came in with a HUGE bowl of fruit large enough to feed most of the class. They told me about the five-day-a-week snack potluck they’d organized because “not everyone in our class has enough money to bring snack” and so every day someone would bring in a huge snack to share. They were taking account of food allergies, asking everyone in the class if they wanted some, and had little planning committee meetings during recess to decide what to bring in the next day. It’s mind-boggling to me that even nine year olds can understand that ensuring that everyone is fed is worth the extra effort but our government still refuses to prioritize it.

[@cjdoesart]

They sound like the sweetest kids, I wish they didn't have to do that though!

[@alisonlevity]

Some schools prohibit sharing

[@jenelaina5665]

Thanks for sharing ❤ Kinda infuriating kids can do what the government can't. We've got free school meals in my state now, thankfully, but it should be a given everywhere sheesh.

[@jawstrock2215]

My biggest hope is that society didn't crush their generous and kind heart overall.

[@marykateharkreader4646]

We can only hope those kids, and others like them, grow up to be the adults who drive change.

[@xellos6882]

MN here. There is no downside to free lunch programs in MN. Kids also get longer to eat because they don’t have to take time to pay. I’d rather my tax dollars go to that than into some politician’s pocket. Everyone in the state benefits the same. You know - the way taxes should work.

[@francoisperrin7397]

Thanks for supporting such program!

[@SharTegral]

Thank you for letting us know just how much impact an Honorable Veteran can have upon the lives that live next to them. Tim Walz is probably still very high from signing that bill!

[@CarlosRodriguez-dk6et]

Most of the money would go to pay all levels of beurocratt that oversees the "free lunch program" and nothing will really improve

[@WindFireAllThatKindOfThing]

@@CarlosRodriguez-dk6et Citation required. Go ahead. We'll wait.

[@SharTegral]

@@CarlosRodriguez-dk6et The data from MN denounces your position. Perhaps VP Tim Walz can help the U.S.A. replicate that success so all of our children can eat and learn at school. Furthermore, I think many of us would risk beaurocratic waste towards doing good works instead of the many other things gov't money has been spent upon. Beauracratically or not, waste exists. Why not in the attempt of good?

[@sekhmet9808]

I remember having to go to school with 40 pennies to pay for my $.40 reduced lunch, and my bully taking them from me and throwing them all over the classroom floor where I had to scramble to collect them, only finding 38, and having to ask around for 2 more pennies to have lunch that day. I was literally 6 years old, am now 38, and have never forgotten it. Fuck all those people who oppose feeding children.

[@trevorz86101]

Dude that is a sucky story

[@trevorz86101]

@@HolidayDecorator Why would I have said previous if I was the bully? Think about! Grew up Jehovah's Witness so quit your assuming. You sound like the........

[@trevorz86101]

@@sekhmet9808 and to OP I'm 38 also and feel bad for you. My friend got bullied till she killed herself at 13 years old.

[@trevorz86101]

@@HolidayDecorator and good I'm DISABLED from a car accident, so stand up for me.... actually no thanks.

[@sadyoshhours2769]

Your bible is a sucky story with talking donkeys and snakes. Not believable at all sorry​@@trevorz86101

[@PhantomNull13]

I'm not particularly well off, and i don't have any kids to benefit, but let me be clear. If my tax dollars are going towards feeding kids, i can live with that. I'm more than willing to pay more to ensure kids can have some food.

[@realDonaIdTruck]

A pretty fundamental idea of living in a society

[@DeAnoJackson]

Yup. I don't have any kids nor do I want any. Feel free to tax me a bit more so the kids can eat. All of them

[@scifirealism5943]

Yep​@@realDonaIdTruck

[@mshepard2264]

💯 agree

[@scifirealism5943]

Thank you.

[@Nipplator99999999999]

I just wanted to thank you for your time and effort to keep uploading to KZbin. I'm past 40, recovering from a 3 month coma, and about to start another cancer therapy program. I currently couldn't afford a $1 transaction for a free trail of HBO, much less a subscription. Thank you soo much for your unique style of entertainment and all that you do to bring about change for those who are not able to do so on their own. Thank you for providing everyone a break from their struggles and putting a smile on our faces.

[@bluemoyie8618]

I just want to send you my empathy and love 🤗 🥰 🤗 I agree that John Oliver and his program are so very welcome, and necessary

[@andromedaspark2241]

I hope you feel better and find joy in the midst of hardship. I hope you'll be okay and have support going through this. Illness teaches us a lot about ourselves, in my opinion, though honestly I'd rather neither of us have to learn it. I guess we each have our own difficult path to take, but I have to believe there is a reason. It helps get through pain. Good luck to you.

[@Nipplator99999999999]

@@andromedaspark2241 honestly, I am truly self-destructive with a can't-happen-to-me complex, no matter how many times I'm proven wrong. My life choices apparently weren't the sensible choices, and everyone has to pay to play. Sadly, I wanted to escape my highly disciplined childhood so badly, I started working on permit at 13 years old while mowing as many yards as I could, and been burning my candle at both ends and the middle with a blowtorch ever since. Enlisted at 17, served 8 years trying not to die for my beliefs, got cancer, worked in aviation while getting a useless engineering degree, got cancer, slowed down by opening my own auto specialty shop, 20 year old abdominal damage almost killed me with a 3 month coma, literally lost everything, including forgetting myself, trying to recover and almost back to my fighting weight of 150 after starting at 74 pounds, and finally the chemicals that were perfectly safe and harmless caused the sheathing on my nerve cells to decide I don't need them and a tumor on my neck. Which I'm currently recovering from getting removed in the hospital drugged into a stupor, before the "his file says veteran" Xanax dose. I'm not going anywhere, I'm too stupid to do the sensible thing 🙃 I thank you for your kind words, and for actually caring, I have noticed that is in short supply in my life lately. It helps a lot to convince myself that other people tangentially cares. Also, brain isn't braining so I'm sorry if I didn't express my thoughts intelligently and concisely.

[@Nipplator99999999999]

@@bluemoyie8618 truly, I have to live vicariously through social media for the time being, and there's not much that I can enjoy, laugh at, and not regret being a human after watching.

[@Nipplator99999999999]

@@andromedaspark2241 I'm tired of surviving, I would really enjoy living again. I have learned enough about myself to know that my head isn't the best place for me to be. I need to stabilize my financial situation and learn about some other people.

[@Skarlett97]

I used to work at a school that would “lunch shame” and give kids cold sandwiches if their debt was too high. There was one younger lunch lady who thought this was awful and would give all the kids hot lunches anyway since there was usually extra food and no one noticed for a long time. She ended up getting reprimanded for this and quit at the end of the year (probably related to that tbh) but I loved her and hope she knew just how much the kids appreciated her. Shoutout to you Kelsey, I’ll never forget you!

[@mordo1191]

I was a kid who frequently got lunch shamed lol. The lunch lady would pull me into the kitchen and hand me a plain cold tuna sandwich. I like tuna sandwiches but those things always disgusted me.

[@gabrielle287]

we need more Kelseys in the world❤❤

[@Skarlett97]

@@gabrielle287 we do! I didn’t mention this part in my comment because it wasn’t relevant to the video, but that school was a toxic work environment for teachers as well and hardly any of the other teachers/staff were nice to me. Kelsey was one of my only friends at that school and I hope she’s doing amazing now ❤️

[@mandalynn252]

Random internet person saying "Go Kelsey".

[@wailingalen]

❤

[@asamlos]

Remember: not eating well as a child can fuck you up for life. I had eating disorders as a kid and literally stunted my growth from lack of nutrition. I don't want any other people to end up like me. Please, give kids all the food they need. Please.

[@VoidicHerald]

I hope you're doing better these days and finding joy in the life you have. Thank you for sharing

[@deannealbrecht774]

Isn't it insane that we can give a trillion dollars to the Pentagon every year, but for the last 4 years, there's been no war. Oh, shut up about what we're supplying to Ukraine or Isreal, which is included in the budget. The "military industrial complex"? Ever heard of it? We have to rethink our post Reagan goals. We need to focus on our kids. The Obamas really did a lot for the school lunch.

[@livinlicious]

Im pretty sure, looking at the obesity in american preschoolers and elementary students, that not having enough food is the least of your problems. Eating well... well thats another story. I dont think americans even have a real "food culture". Nothing is "american".

[@Fiddlers-Green42]

malnutrition was why school lunch programs were created.. .to many underfed soldiers during wartime that couldnt qualify like Steve Rogers in Captain America

[@thomaszinser8714]

Indeed. And even outside of your example, we know this on a systematic scale, because that was the whole fucking reason why school lunches were introduced, because draftees during WW2 were consistently massively malnourished, making it more difficult for them to be trained to a real standard.

[@David-cb1ct]

Some Americans, do not seem to understand what tax money is supposed to be used for, the benefit of society and the people.

[@holli3716]

​@patrick9440 Oh the horrors of feeding a hungry child who's given nothing back. Imagine doing something selfless for someone who's helpless. Absolutely unconconscionable.

[@anniestumpy9918]

One of the best and one of the worst comments here.

[@richgerow3472]

@@patrick9440 Imagine being so heartless that you use illegal immigrants as an excuse to let children go hungry. The party of family values seems to be more like the party of cruelty toward anyone who isn't a white conservative.

[@BigGuy8059]

@@patrick9440 Of course, "FEED THE HUNGRY" is one of those things Jesus said gets you into heaven. Failing to feed them gets you eternal damnation. I guess you prefer Hell, Patrick. And let me point out that most of those "illegal kids" were born here so they are US citizens.

[@Achie79]

@@patrick9440 Tell me you know nothing about taxes without telling me you know nothing about taxes.

[@meredithburton7918]

Three things: - cliche or not, if the US spent more on schools, they would probably spend less on prisons. -if you don't get an endorphin rush from the picture of Tim Walz and the school kids, you're a monster -John Oliver and his team are geniuses

[@nitaweitzel822]

Absodamnlutly

[@towanda1067]

Former teacher here. One thing I learned early on, you can’t teach a hungry child. I ran a summer program to assist the children of migrant workers. They clearly came to the camp hungry and tired. They were supposed to bring snacks but I caught on very quickly that they didn’t have money for that. I started bringing them in for everyone and once I did, I noticed a big difference in their engagement with the material and activities. Feed the children. Not only do the children benefit but the society benefits. It’s a no brainer.

[@highway264able]

⁠@@warpony123why is it on the government to provide meals for military personnel that volunteer to join the service…if a child is required to go to school for x amount of time everyday then meal’s should be provided during that time. Obviously the child isn’t getting a meal when they’re not in school…Sat. or Sun…summertime and school holidays.

[@14104]

​@@warpony123​Irresponsible people aren't going to stop being irresponsible because someone says they shouldn't be irresponsible. If people are forced to live in this world, the least we can do is provide some cushion for those hard landings.

[@SSGoatanks]

Hope John Oliver talks about MrBeast, Logan Paul, and KSI marketing unhealthy Lunchables to kids 🥪

[@itsthevoiceman]

​@@warpony123don't worry about it, let's just have kids that are fed when they go to government mandated educational facilities

[@stevenconifer2676]

​​@@warpony123By YOUR (pernicious) logic, why should there be public schools at all? What is it with Americans and selfishness? Just a cultural thing, or...?

[@hannahdawg6829]

Those feel good stories about the kids paying off school lunch debt feels like a "little Timmy raised enough money to turn off the child mulcher for 24 hours"

[@triopsate3]

Also feels like a reason for them to unironically say "the children yearn for the mines". After all, if they're already working to pay off people's debts, that just means they have the ability to work so gotta make sure those kids stay productive members of society right? /s

[@josephjaramillo6256]

Todd Carmichael, CEO and co-founder of La Colombe Coffee in Philadelphia tried to pay off $22,000 in outstanding lunch debt. The school wouldn't let him. After that Foster care threat letter went viral they finally accepted his offer.

[@Alex-pq2fv]

Orphan crushing machine moment

[@mikabreto]

r/OrphanCrushingMachine is an active subreddit, y’all. Come visit.

[@rivox1009]

​@@triopsate3Well, that was an argument at some point in the 1800s, wasn't it? Banning child labor didn't happen on its own and rich assholes did say that children wanted to go in the mines to help pay off their family's debt, so the government should let them. A lot of things we take for granted now were hard fought at some point

[@spacesaurus7563]

I've never been more proud to be a Minnesotan. I cried when free school lunches were passed because I was always hungry growing up, and it really does effect your performance in everything. If you know anything about science, that won't be surprising.

[@chefcc90]

Right? I work in MN as a school chef. I am thankful for us making sure kids have food.

[@sunshine3914]

I was okay in science, but having worked with all kinds of animals, I saw how the right nutrition can transform an animal. Sometimes it would take a couple of days, sometimes weeks, but the transformation was amazing to behold.

[@13699111]

I'm voting for the Minnesota governor and the VP this November. We need to elect representatives that support them completely. United we stand divided we fall

[@ritah8415]

Massachusetts just did the same amazing motion happening at the state level

[@peterweller8583]

Yeah, me either, and me too mom and I used to walk back alleys looking for empties we could exchange for milk. NordEast Mpls. I got discounted lunches and the lunch lady would slip me an extra. God bless her she got cancer and died still miss her.

[@reginashula651]

You know who else developed issues with food? kiddos and adults that survived WW2, hoarding cans, constant fear of being without. Not providing lunch for our kiddos in ‘the richest country in the word’ is f’ing shameful

[@sandydiller7575]

Thank you for this story. I am a retired "Lunch Lady" and have seen it with my own eyes and have said all along that there should be a Federal Free Meal Program. As a former program administrator, I can assure you that the paperwork is a huge burden. No child should feel ashamed or embarrassed to eat. Come on America - we can do this!!

[@oasntet]

The overhead of "needs based" aid is often higher than just giving aid to everybody. And that's before accounting for the costs to society for people falling through the cracks. We should just give every kid a healthy lunch every day and stop with the means testing and paperwork; it pays for itself many times over. I don't even have kids and I'd benefit from my taxes paying for free lunches for all.

[@WellnessintheSchools123]

Thank you for sharing your story. We thank you for all of your years of service to our kids!

[@mattsmith1318]

My dad's mom who I never got to meet used to run the cafeteria in the town I grew up in. When I was going to the same elementary school, my great aunt (dad's aunt) was running it and I would go and give her a hug every morning and she would always give me an extra roll when there were rolls and she would give me an extra bowl of (her recipe) chicken noodle soup on Tuesdays.❤ (The junior high and high School "lunchroom" was a room with tables and a few vending machines and not enough microwaves.)

[@sassmonster3422]

Thank you for your service ❤

[@J.M.-nb4gw]

That's why we need to elect Kamala Harris and Tim Walz and Democratic majorities in Congress so we can get stuff done for the American people

[@unclescar5616]

I'm from Zambia where the government with its paltry budget struggles to provide basic porridge to primary school pupils especially in rural areas. This is usually the only meal many of these children will have all day after walking over 8 to 10 Kilometres get to the school. But it serves as a major incentive to encourage rural parents to send them to school. I can afford to provide for my own children, but I am glad to contribute my taxes to this Programme because I know it doesn't just make the life of a child better out there (which would be enough on its own) but contributes to the development of my country as a whole. It therefore baffles me to hear that some Americans, for nothing more than loyalty to ideology, are unwilling to support the allocation of millions of available resources to feeding their own nation's children. What's patriotism if you can't sacrifice for the betterment of your fellow country man? You will gladly support the scrambling of billions of dollars of military hardware when another nation even looks at lady liberty funny, but you will shot down a bill to feed millions of children within your own borders?

[@flaminyawn]

There are five words that describe the sort of people who refuse to invest in bettering the country and the lives of those living in it. "I've got mine. Up yours."

[@ekdaufin1485]

❤❤❤

[@jam8070]

Well said. America treats its poor as if poverty is deserved instead of fixing the systemic lack of opportunity for the less privileged. Even if one's reasoning was that some people are just lazy and should earn the benefits they receive instead of expecting handouts, how does that apply to their children? Do these folks expect an 8 year old to get a job, grocery shop, and prepare a nutritious meal? What about the folks who are working more than full time and still cannot afford to feed their children? The federal minimum wage in this country is $7.25 an hour. In 1984, 40 years ago, I was making $7.50 an hour working at a restaurant as a cook. It wasn't good money 40 years ago and it most certainly isn't good money now. Some people do have an extremely arduous time making ends meet even when they work long hard hours and are frugal with their spending. It costs money to be poor: extra fees on installment payments, higher interest rates, buying low quality products more frquently, etc. Sometimes poverty kills. A friend of mine died from diabetic complications because he couldn't afford his insulin. Many vulnerable people die when there is extremes in temperature because they can't afford sufficient heating and cooling systems. America should feed its children, there isn't a good excuse not to. But it may first have to overcome its attitude toward poor people.

[@FinalMeep]

I am fully convinced that a lot of people especially (but not just) in the US fundamentally misunderstand what "society" is supposed to be. Everytime I hear phrases like "the betterment of your fellow country man", I think to myself that that has never been a goal for these people at all. If anything, they resent anything that includes "others" and "better", cause they feel like everything is zero sum in some way. There's a disconnect there that will need to be tackled before it makes any sense to appeal to a presumed desire to help others.

[@trunphin]

Yeah, here in America, we don't care about kids unless there's a pregnant woman to force a baby onto or when we are banning books with the word hell in them.

[@jekkabailey4928]

I know this will be drowned out by the thousand of comments here, but I want to share my experience growing up in rural PA with school lunches. School lunch was the only hot meal I would have in any given day. My father was too ashamed to fill out the forms for free lunch, and he stopped giving me money for lunch when I saved it once and bought a book I desperately wanted with it rather than eating. I was too young to have a job, so instead I just... didn't eat. It was so horrible. The longest I went was three days, and while I know that is nothing, I still remember the pit in my stomach making it impossible to concentrate in class. If we had food at home it would have been different, but often my only meals for days at a time would be when my father would take me to the bar where he drank, and he would get me some bar food then. By high school I had a wonderful friend who realized what was going on, and constantly tried to offer to buy me food. I was too ashamed to accept. Instead, he started buying himself two trays, and then "Not being hungry enough" to finish the second. I know that it was not the schools fault. I know it was my fault in a way, too. But the hunger in my stomach has followed me into adulthood. I hoard food now, and rarely feel comfortable if the cabinets aren't full. I struggle to allow myself to eat the food I have, because I am still so afraid of not being able to replace it. My mind constantly tells me that I do not deserve to eat. The abuse of my childhood haunts me, but the food insecurity was in an odd way the part that clung to me the most. Having to sit there with your friends and watch them eat, feeling the hole inside yourself, and not cry... I wish I could help just one child not experience that.

[@lynnebucher6537]

The saddest part of this is when parents valued their pride when it was a public thing, but apparently felt no shame in starving their kids. I'm sorry for your experiences and am grateful my mom made sure we were fed something, even when it was food stamps and free school lunches for low income. My dad also had a drinking problem and thought of himself first.

[@jordancampbell637]

"I know it was my fault in a way, too." Please tell me that's a typo because it's absolutely not true in any way.

[@lynnebucher6537]

PS due to early adulthood food scarcity, I also hoard food. I've been trying to get out of this habit, but it's difficult.

[@FeliciaHopkins-hn7uo]

None of that was EVER your fault.

[@sharonxia6694]

It is our society's fault, our leader's fault!

[@Burganditus]

Once my 7th grade history teacher showed us a picture of french school lunches and we almost rioted

[@darrylmccoy4202]

Look at Japan’s also.

[@morganrees3603]

My high school had a sushi chief and we're a public school ​@darrylmccoy4202

[@Burganditus]

@@morganrees3603 that ain't no public high school that's a decent establishment these two can never be the same

[@morganrees3603]

@@Burganditus Nope it was public high school it was run by the school district.

[@Burganditus]

@@morganrees3603 I'm from NYC where you from

[@nicholasc6876]

Living in Maine, I can tell you that the program is absolutely awesome. No paperwork, no administrative mumbo jumbo. My daughter just goes to school and has breakfast and lunch all set up. She enjoys the food, never complains, likes the kitchen staff. The fact we don't even have to think about it, it as savings on our brains. We have other things to worry about.

[@IamZeus1100]

As someone from NH , that’s just a common northern New England win ! After all , There’s a reason ME , VT and NH are consistently in the top 5 states to live In every year !

[@KOSAMAGAMES]

I wish more people would consider what happens to uneaten school lunches. In the schools where I worked, unaccepted food would sometimes be placed in a box where students could take extra if they wanted. However, regulations prevented me from officially doing so. I often found myself having the same conversation with students. Take a typical lunch of pizza, milk, and an orange. When students line up and one says, 'I don’t want the orange,' I’m required to respond, 'I’m sorry, but legally I have to give it to you.' The student might then say, 'But I’m just going to throw it away,' yet I’m left with no options. If I withhold the food, I risk losing my job or facing legal repercussions for the school. That’s why we quietly placed the box there (for stuff kids didn't want), though technically, we weren't supposed to, especially when district officials were visiting. After serving about 1,200 students, we might end up with 40 to 80 leftover oranges. Occasionally, a teacher might take one or two, though they too risked getting in trouble. But for most, it’s easier to avoid the issue entirely. So, what happens to those leftover oranges? We can’t donate them due to regulations. I recall a principal trying to hand them out at the end of the day, but we’d still be left with 20 to 60 uneaten oranges. In the end, all we could do was throw them away. Now imagine that scenario every single school day, sometimes even on weekends for high school events. That's about 200 school days per year, with 80 items like oranges, milk, or snacks being discarded daily. That’s over 1,600 meals per school, per year, going straight into the trash. In LA County, with over 2,000 schools, that’s 2.4 million meals wasted annually. It’s surprising that this issue isn’t more widely addressed. It was incredibly disheartening to throw away perfectly good food, often still sealed. Even pouring fresh milk down the drain felt wrong, but we had no choice... we needed the space for tomorrow’s 1,600 meals coming out of the freezer. It also doesn't help cost and realistically we can't only prepare the stuff people want.

[@glurppuffloid9796]

@@KOSAMAGAMES This is why Universal Programs without red tape are the way to go. Just have a buffet system, where Kids get to pick what they want, and can get options for their basic dietary needs. The problem happens when disconnected politicians try regulating programs, ending up in more paperwork, beaurocracy and red tape, just to deny stuff to some people, when things should be available to ALL people. and rules about FORCING kids to take stuff on their plates is dumb.

[@J.M.-nb4gw]

​​@@IamZeus1100I should have moved there years ago but I'm 65 years old now and didn't have that kind of foresight when I was younger, plus we didn't have the internet to find out stuff like that. I do remember that Bob Newhart Show was set in Vermont, looked like fun to me! 😁 Sadly I'm stuck in the middle of Indiana and my wife won't move now, and I'm pretty sure I couldn't afford to buy a house in Vermont Maine or New Hampshire? ? ?

[@diggingupnorth3453]

Agreed. My wifes school in the mid-coast does "food bags" anonymously that can go home with kids who need it. The teachers put them in backpacks when they are in cubbies to keep it private. And let me tell you, sometimes its important to multiple kids in the household to keep them going until the next school day.

[@waaurufu]

Lunch lady of ten years here, at my school in California we serve 250 to 300 kids a day. I know I'm making a difference in their lives, and they're making a difference in mine by giving me a reason to get up every day. I fed kids before, during and after the pandemic. We kept the most vulnerable in our communities fed during a turbulent time. Not all heroes wear capes, some wear aprons!

[@marciaguy10899]

You just wear your capes on the front where they’re more useful 😉

[@gaylonshockley1848]

❤❤❤❤❤❤ big Hug

[@mostafadiab1224]

❤❤❤❤

[@IreneWY]

Are you cutting onions? Cause I I got really teary eyed here ❤

[@criggyummy]

Always thank the lunch lady!

[@kidalex77]

Food Service Director here. This segment made me cry. Thank you, John "The Good British" Oliver!

[@SarafinaSummers]

Thank you for your hard work and dedication for the students in your community. It is not forgotten, nor in vain. You have no idea how many little lives you touch every day, with the simple act of providing a nutritious, reliable meal. 🫂 I wish I could hug you physically. 😢

[@lisajean228]

God bless you, it’s got to be a tough gig

[@kidalex77]

@@lisajean228 right now, it's proving to the administration that we need an extra person. Because we aren't tied to the district funding (which has a surplus), we have to justify our staffing by meal participation, which has gone up. But we haven't made our reimbursable claims yet, so we don't have proof that we'll be able to afford another person. And my poor staff is suffering because they're doing all this work with no extra help. I'm working in the kitchen with them, which puts me way behind on my actual director work. Rough stuff.

[@lisajean228]

@@kidalex77 undervalued and overworked; sounds like you’re barely keeping your head above water

[@diegoesteta]

My wife is a teacher. She cries at least once a week seeing her kids in hunger. How can people be so cruel? Monsters. You know how people say thank you for your service. Well, thank you for your service. You are a miracle.

[@MoonQiFumbo]

I was one of these kids, I remember times where my family didn't have food at the house for days to weeks, we were that poor and relied on food stamps. I'm always grateful for all the food school lunches provided. My elementary and middle schools luckily served banger ass food, it was delicious and then high school hit and I didn't sign up for the federal free food income based thing my freshman year, and I'd be embarrassed to ask my parents for money to buy school food because it would be expensive without the assistance. So yeah, I'd eat literally anything super small to nothing at all. Thanks for bringing awareness John!

[@JakeDeMarco]

My abusive father would withhold food as a form of punishment after DCF was called to report the bruises I had. School lunch for a while was all I had to eat most times. I am thankful you have shed some light on this

[@nicholaszikos3851]

Idk some asshole in Minnesota has never met you and been told that when yall met, as I’m sure you tell everyone you introduce yourself to

[@surfhappens202]

@@nicholaszikos3851 Bot

[@JakeDeMarco]

@@surfhappens202 🤣

[@yourbodyandyou]

That's awful. I hope your life got better.

[@JakeDeMarco]

@@yourbodyandyou thank you. I hope you are doing well today

[@hannahs.bandanas]

I still remember when my lunch debt was at its max, and I was supposed to get a “cold lunch” but the lunch lady gave me a free hot lunch (this happened 13 years ago). She was so kind, and it’s probably because she knew being shamed for needing lunch is insane.

[@josephjaramillo6256]

Especially because they have to throw out the leftovers. It's ridiculous.

[@michaelmantooth4235]

It's crazy to me that I'm only 25 years old and I remember being given the cold lunch of shame because my parents were too poor/addicted. Not only is it cold, at least at my school the cold lunch was literally just two graham crackers with PB and jelly- nowhere near enough food or nutrition when it's a regular problem. I still have shame and problems eating to this day from the way kids and ADULTS shamed me for not having lunch money. I would try to avoid lunch, steal food all kinds of things. As a kid I felt constantly ashamed, but as an adult I just feel angry. I could never imagine watching a kid go through something like that and not giving them real food.

[@vaidenkelsier7757]

@@youtubegarbage7876 Does it fucking matter?

[@kenc2257]

@@youtubegarbage7876 Aha! The state senator from MN ("I-don't-see-hungry-people") has entered the chat...

[@sweeperchick]

@@vaidenkelsier7757 This account is rage baiting most of the comments on this video. It's unfortunate KZbin only has a Report function instead of a Block option.

[@charlottebuddhistvihara1354]

Six or 7 years ago a neighbor of mine decided to come out of retirement to serve as a high school lunch lady. The school serves more than 1500 students in a poor part of town, with 100% of the students considered "economically disadvantaged". On the 1st day of school my neighbor was horrified to realize that not nearly enough food had been prepared; the last quarter or so of students in the lunch line received only snacks (which she scrambled to provide), and there was nothing at all to give the last kids in line. She apologized to many disappointed hungry kids. The next day the same thing happened, and the next day too. By the 3rd day the word had spread among kids that the cafeteria was not to be trusted, so many kids found food elsewhere - leaving campus for a nearby fast food place or bringing food from home. The numbers in line dropped precipitously. It dawned on my neighbor that the shortage wasn't by accident but by design, a deliberate plan to scale down the numbers of kids the cafeteria served. Disgusted, she quit by the end of the week. Talking to me about it months later she seemed still very agitated over how the kids were treated.

[@Falcodrin]

Well that was dumb planning since cost overhead doesn't drop nearly as much as you would think by serving fewer kids.

[@kateetree]

As a former lunch lady in Oregon, I can confirm that this does happen. I got in trouble several times with my supervisor for cooking more than her projected numbers because I knew that by the time 5th grade lunch rolled around, I'd have to give the last 20 kids yogurt instead of a hot lunch. So I'd cook a few more pizzas and get an ear full about it later. In addition, lunch room staff are severely underpaid and understaffed. I served about 400-500 lunches a day at an elementary school, and I was the only cook in the kitchen. I got paid minimum wage and had to opt out of the healthcare plan because it would have taken nearly my entire paycheck. It's an incredibly stressful job. I quit a year ago.

[@NWPaul72]

​@@Falcodrinit's an old conservative trick: starve a program, then criticize it for being ineffective and try to cancel or privatize it. What's disgusting is how often it works.

[@Nowolf]

@@Falcodrin the actual economics of these kinds of plans are always shit. like adding a 40 million dollar drug testing program to some service, because of course you don't want to help drug addicts(?) and 'saving' a whole 40,000 dollars in withheld benefits.

[@Greenitthe]

@@youtubegarbage7876 Are you seriously suggesting that the parents who were not meeting their kids' nutrition needs for one reason or another would actually change because their kid brought home a how to make a sandwich for dummies pamphlet? Maybe instead of snark you can try thinking up solutions that actually help struggling parents; or better yet, listen to the people who actually study why kids are going hungry when *they* identify solutions. While I personally need no more motivation than simply *feeding hungry children*, think of the sheer economic output we lose as a direct result of food insecurity. Everybody knows engineers earn more than burger flippers - why would we not invest $5 a day when we make that back ten-fold from well-fed children who can actually focus and learn valuable skills? > if you keep throwing they keep coming GREAT. Since when was an educated population a bad thing? Since when were well fed students a bad thing?

[@TheHobatron]

"Your taxes are going to feed hungry children!" Literally the best possible use of taxes, surely.

[@agr8h2o]

Food insecurity in childhood can fuck up your entire life. I'm 65 now and I hoard food. So does my sister. Funny thing is I didn't remember being hungry until I asked my mother if we were too poor to have enough food. She cried, but confirmed we were often without enough food. I'm not poor, it's not logical, but here I am. Buy one less fighter jet and feed the kids!

[@dee_dee_place]

Both of my Parents grew up during the Depression & going without food was a usual occurrence. They were hell-bent that their 3 girls would NEVER go hungry, even if that meant they did, & that they did, especially my Mom.

[@kylegonewild]

@@dee_dee_place My dad would give away the food from his own plate to feed *other* people's kids if he showed up with something. My mother always prepared enough for everyone present and would go without if need be. Hell, being the oldest kid in the household I regularly went without making excuses for not being hungry to make sure my parents had enough to eat. You can't function well at any job but especially manual labor jobs while hungry and underfed. It's biologically nonsensical. Despite being poor as fuck when friends were over to play and hang out they were taken care of, because that's what good hearted people do. They care for the children. My parents weren't perfect but the idea of letting someone else's kid go hungry to save me a few bucks is tantamount to blasphemy in my family.

[@lynnebucher6537]

Our mom, regardless of meager finances managed to keep us fed by using budget priced ingredients. But I had seriously bad times after entering college, and remember living off of 5 cent dented cans and being hungry a lot. I learned to make meals out of rice and canned vegetables and tuna.

[@topogigio7031]

Yea this stuff lasts longer than people realize. My wife asked why I keep the house so cold after noticing my brother does the same. It's because we couldn't afford heat growing up. Probably also why I like to bake - when mom was away we'd turn on the oven and sneak some warmth

[@JayBJ-eu9vx]

I hoard food too. That must be the resulting behavior from being hungry as kids.

[@AlexisKaspbrak]

I took part in the reduced lunch program in elementary school in the 80s, and I still remember sometimes my principal would give me an extra quarter for an ice cream sandwich or a pretzel rod (things that everyone had to pay extra for, whether you paid full price for lunch or brought your own from home and wanted an extra treat.) And it made me feel like everyone else in the cafeteria and not shamed. Thank you, Mrs. Hanson for making this child feel normal and loved. I've never forgotten these acts of your kindness. 💞

[@icantollie]

In elementary school my favorite day of the week was Friday because Friday was ice cream day. I remember a lot of Fridays I'd have this weighty quarter in my pocket that I'd take to school checking every few minutes to make sure it was still in my pocket and they would sell ice cream cups in either vanilla or chocolate you know the plastic ones with the cardboard cover and the little wooden stick scoop. Quarters have been my favorite denomination ever since bc of those childhood memories

[@WildcardZwei]

HELL YEAH, MRS. HANSON! There are good people out there. I know it to be true. It's hard to see through a sea of assholes as a child, but those figures really DO stand out. :)

[@lanceash]

Always remember, the school "PrinciPAL" is your "pal." A "principle" is a truth or concept.

[@lauraanne5175]

That made me tear up X

[@dianevanweelie5233]

One person can make a difference in someone's life. Be that person whenever possible.

[@nadazzler]

As someone who grew up being bullied for being a "free lunch kid", I think universal free lunch would be truly life-changing for some children. I was eligible for free breakfast and lunch growing up, but would usually skip one or both meals because of the stigma. When I couldn't afford to feed myself regularly in my early 20's, it took a dear friend literally driving me to a food bank before I would accept help because I had carried that shame from my school cafeteria into my adulthood. Thank you for bringing light to this. All kids deserve shame-free food!

[@hank4917]

Why didn't you just get a job like everyone else?

[@readingthefounderstrilogyw2644]

🤗 I'm so sorry. I hope you've found a way to heal. blessed be. ❤

[@readingthefounderstrilogyw2644]

​@hank4917 You have obviously never needed food assistance. Believe it or not, many of us work hard and still need help putting food on the table. Your considerate approach to a sensitive subject is most appreciated. I'm glad you got John's point about the damages of shaming. 😊

[@pendlera2959]

@@readingthefounderstrilogyw2644 That guy is a troll. He's got a ton of discrediting comments here.

[@readingthefounderstrilogyw2644]

@@pendlera2959 I went ahead and reported the comment as bullying.

[@MRelemint]

I was a poor kid of the Reagan era & into the 90s who relied on school lunch to eat. I remember the times I’d forgotten my lunch card & I was told I couldn’t eaten even when the staff knew I was the poor kid. In H.S the nice cafeteria lady would never reject us when we didn’t have our lunch punch card and to this day I’m thankful for people like her. As a tax payer I 100% support a free national school food program.

[@anthonymetaxotos8446]

I was one of few poor kids in a wealthy town in highschool and never had lunch money. The lunchladies would always make me a small meal so i could eat and eventually a classmate caught on from a very "*very* wealthy family. He brought me double what i needed for lunch everyday my freshman and sophomore year of highschool. Its a shame that all these years later i actually forget his name. Whereever you are ily dude, you have no idea how much it meant to me.

[@TheDpmvhs]

Sorry that you forgot his name but you will never forget the kindness . And that is all that matters !

[@jeffvirosztko5241]

I'm 77 years old, I grew up when there was no programs for kids, well that's not true, a local restaurant knew about my alcoholic parents, their help came in the form of, "we'll give you a dollar if you'll mope the floor at closing" so I moped the floor. The next day at lunch, the dollar paid for me and my younger brother to buy a hamburger, fries and a coke. But they covered the 2 cents tax that we didn't have. Thank God for Tack and Eddie for the opportunity that was offered to me.

[@davidbeppler3032]

Pretty sure the local restaurant would be closed down with an investigation into child labor today. It is ok to starve, it is not ok to work.

[@JustHereForCats]

It’s wild that they owned a restaurant and didn’t think that maybe you might actually need food.

[@chukwudiilozue9171]

@@TwisterTornado Sometimes people feel bad receieving charity. Some parents would flip out like its an insult.

[@krysto2012]

​@TwisterTornado Adjusting for inflation, $1 back then would have been $10-12, just for context.

[@magnusgriel]

So how did you make the floor more depressed?

[@vivienwatts7747]

I worked as a school food service director for over 30 years in Southern California and just recently retired. On the average, we fed 8,500 lunches per school day out of 16 k-12 schools. In high schools, we feed 1000 to 2000 kids within 40 minutes. Everything said in your video is true - a pleasant surprise actually. Since 2020, we have been feeding all kids a free breakfast and a free lunch. During the pandemic we fed/provide food to kids and families at the curbside every school day while most people worked from home. I will never forget the faces of families showing their gratitude. It was a beautiful thing when you know you are feeding kids, especially those in need. Thank you for this video. We need someone like you to help us promote the goodness of feeding kids!

[@BebbaDubbs]

I was an student activities, Director, as well as a resource specialist at a very large high school in northern California... As soon as the fcmat and nutrion guidance got in front of me I met with our food services directer and my mind was BLOW. I was taught the funding history by my parents but never understood the scale of what y'all logistically do on a daily basis and how INTENSE thoes 30min (our High School) are. Our kitchen provided SO many amazing and specialized menus for our events and the on site lead would even make me gluten free things (just for fun) even though they can't really "do that". I never saw a kid go hungry at my school because I knew I could get them fed during off hours. I don't know and I respect the hell out of you!

[@ziply123]

God bless you for caring ❤❤❤

[@BlueTorchWeddings]

This made me cry. There are such beautiful people in the world😢 God Bless you all 😢😢. If no one appreciates you, I do Thank you from the bottom of my heart

[@LaurenBillings-m6m]

Thank you so much for being the human you are ♥️

[@marisap09]

School nutrition staff and directors are real heroes who do so much with so little! I would like to see every billionaire in CA donate $$ to their local school district for food services to upgrade equipment and serve amazing food.

[@Celia97799]

Children are the most important thing we have. I remember when my school when from deepfrying everything to baking and offering "Lunch specials" when I was in Grade 10. At first it sucked, but they offered real food. Also in grade 10, you could take a cafeteria class to learn to work in a kitchen. The quality of the food and learning of that class improved because of that change, it was also my favourite class as it was fun and it helped me get a job as a prep cook out of highschool

[@ninalustik33]

My mom was a lunch lady and worked until she was 83. My mom would make sure that none of the kids she served ever went home hungry. There were times she would pay for their lunches. Free lunch programs are a must, thank you for bringing this to light. Love your program!

[@somefreshbread]

She's a saint, and it's such a bummer that anyone was ever in a situation that she had to do that.

[@Gio_EL]

God bless your mom and your family man! = ) - 🐧

[@norahmason7451]

Thank you to your mom for her years of service in feeding our kids 🙏

[@EternalResonance]

Yeah talk about everything except the fiucn Israel war thats costing us millions!!!!!!! Wonder why they haven't talked about it yet when at least half the country is against more war spending.

[@SSGoatanks]

Politicians should work a day as a lunch lady and be the ones to tell children why they can't have free lunch.

[@areyoukittenmebro]

Speaking as a (former) child who in elementary school had to literally beg the adults around me to feed me on certain days when I had too much debt racked up and who had one teacher buy me a peanut butter on bread sandwich out of their own pocket when I had had “too many alternative meals and too much debt” at SEVEN YEARS OLD, anyone who opposes FEEDING HUNGRY CHILDREN is a heartless monster and should be shamed and ostracized as such. I am STILL food insecure and it has taken years and years of therapy to get to a point where I don’t have full panic attacks over a dwindling pantry when it approaches grocery day. Thank you so much for another great video, John. Thank you and your team for all you do to bring awareness of these difficult issues to so many people.

[@ekdaufin1485]

Yes and putting children on weight loss diets has the same effect.

[@veryberry39]

The people against it want to "teach a lesson" to parents about not being able to afford their children (the whole "don't have them if you can't afford them" thing) and that makes it more infuriating. You're literally cutting off your nose to spite your face. I don't care if Susie's parents are literally sitting around doing heroin all day. SHE is not at fault. Stop punishing her because you're mad at some mythical "lazy" boogeyman!

[@icantollie]

Food insecurity leads to obesity and so many other health conditions that cost our society so much more overall in the long run compared to what it would cost to just provide a square meal for every kid in school. I'll never forgive Republicans who killed the pandemic-era national school lunch program while the massive Trump tax cuts of 2018 raised income taxes for those making less than $30--40k a year, lowered them for those making $60k a year or more, and drastically reduced them for those making more than $500k or more a year with the biggest gains (in percentage terms, not just absolute dollar terms) going to those who make $1 million a year or more

[@brandyecheverria3559]

My husband and I share the same feelings. I sympathize.

[@objectreborn.artsewing]

I grew up homeschooled in a food and resource scarce home. I appreciated you saying the panic attacks about the pantry at home. I'm 35 and I still am finding new rules to set for myself to decrease how much of a trigger it is, if something isn't in place for my personal sense of food security. Stay regulated 🩵✌️

[@parkerbond9400]

These 'feel good' stories about kids helping out other kids are both heartwarming and VERY dystopian.

[@joeanthony7759]

It’s wrong. I wonder if the reporters don’t feel or see the sick irony in all this

[@sarahakm]

I feel the same dystopian feeling when we hear "feel-good" stories about fundraising for medical procedures, like a kid with a lemonade stand raising money for mom's brain tumor removal.

[@LivingItUp810]

I know! It was so creepy and disturbing

[@jefferson808]

Yay capitalism.

[@subjekt5577]

/r/OrphanCrushingMachine

[@javilokox]

This one made me emotional. I work in the health department and you have no idea how many kid come in every week with symptoms of anemia because they are not eating enough, specially when it comes to school lunch. Some can't afford it, some are embarrassed to eat it and some just say they don't like it. Either way, this kids are missing time in school because they have to see a doctor which will probably cost their parents money too. School lunch should be free for everyone.

[@rebekahleib9303]

Former school cook here. I was militant about feeding all the kids that I could, regardless of who paid, because you always know who your hungry kids are. I got out of it because the system is rigged against you as a cook; the garbage processed food that is routinely served, the lack of time for prep/cooking, funding, and even the SINGLE WORKING OVEN that the district would not replace in my kitchen (looking at you, Pullman WA), yet the district office spent hundreds of dollars on new office furniture for a private office. It's such a despairing job where you're expected to run yourself into the ground day after day. Thanks John for finally covering the school lunch (and overall food insecurity with kids) crisis, it's such a huge issue.

[@lisajean228]

❤

[@eggtarts286]

One of my network engineer friends had a very similar complaint. The school they worked at had routers that were so old they were falling apart. Those didn't get fixed or replaced, but the school somehow found money for a brand new private conference room with its own enterprise grade network.

[@lisajean228]

@@eggtarts286 I’ve had this 12 year old laptop for 5 years…even our director can’t seem to get tech to provide me with a newer one…frustrating

[@lainiwakura1776]

The administration always makes sure they get theirs first and if they get free money, they will refuse to spend anymore than that free money to feed the children.

[@m0derately.g0th]

a lot of non Washingtonians don’t understand how regressive our state tax budget is. because we don’t have income tax and have a high sales tax (and extra high liquor tax), poor people end up shouldering a vast majority of the tax burden and then our state budgets fall short and people like you suffer. we need to completely restructure the tax system in our state to be progressive instead of regressive.

[@ShinigamiMoon]

I used to be a lunch lady and let me tell you, a lot of people don’t understand how much MOST lunch workers truly care about the students. We’ll do everything in our power to give students a delicious meal, but we’re working with very little. It’s hot in the kitchen, there’s not a lot of space, and often times our equipment is failing. Imagine feeding an entire high school with a team of about 15 people. We were a well oiled machine, but if someone was out or something happened it could be incredibly hard, and that’s not even taking into account the perils of serving (kids arent the only ones who’ll just stand in your way while you’re carrying 50lbs of burning hot potatoes). Lunch should be free for all students, and it’s a shame that that isn’t already the case.

[@joeanthony7759]

Yes, thank you. Considering many tons of food is thrown away every day, yet we still have hungry people everywhere, ought to make it obvious to everyone that something is very wrong with the system

[@AlejandraVargas-y4k]

I still remember my lunch ladies from my childhood. I’m 23 now, but I was very poor and (luckily) my school did offer free lunch for low income children. They were so kind to us. Thank you for your service

[@stillatin]

I still remember my lunch lady’s, and It’s been twenty years. ALWAYS looked out for us and I was the tallest in my school, she’d always give me extra something cause she said I was growing boy lol

[@ShineyWrap]

I learned hundreds of jokes for a 1st grader that would rapid fire jokes at me. One coworker would personally hand out ranch and hot sauce all day on the days we had it available so that all the grades would have some. One 3rd grader got constant notes that they owe and the teacher started to "help" by taking the tray out of his hand to give him a sunbutter sandwich. The same week he came in with a piggy bank and I never sent home a note again. It took him 3 days of him waiting empty handed for a sunbutter sandwich with us both staring at a red screen and one loud conversation with his teacher that no he does have money and yes send him through again today while we stare at a red screen for him to catch on. Mom paid when she could. The only seasonings the paid for was garlic powder, onion powder, and cinnamon. Everything taste the same because it is. How do you make orange glazed carrots when it's on the menu? Go get the cinnamon and orange juice. When I was there Michelle Obama had gotten involved in the program and was making healthy options. The worst was the grilled cheese. 7 peices of cheese on a grilled cheese to hit the dietary requirements for the meal. You cant even get that to melt let alone how ridiculous that is. The most heartbreaking one was the hummas and pita bread. You have no seen a kindergarden cry until you see them realize what the oddly named meal they picked for fun is and that the teacher wouldn't let them switch.

[@MafGeek]

❤

[@chefcc90]

Thank you for covering this. I work in a small school as the meal director. I serve between 120-160 a day for lunch. It is a chore, but we manage it and my kids actually tell me they love the meals we serve. Mainly because we strive to make 90% of things from scratch. Edit: I should point out that this year's rate is $4.66 per child that eats. My food cost is about $2 per meal served. That is what food is costing. Think about that...

[@Static-ash]

Thank you for what you do

[@hadenough1]

Thanks for you! We just went to a new building with new kitchen staff. The old building was pretty much home cooked from the staff. Really miss it for our kids.

[@spiceyhotpot]

Batch cooking at times sacrifices quality for quantity, used to be a camp cook and did 500 kids per meal and it is so NOT easy.

[@waltersolomon9049]

That's pretty small. My mom was a cafeteria manager in Baltimore for 30 years and some of her schools had a 1000 kids she had to feed 3 times a day.

[@RoonMian]

Americans keep telling me that the USA are "the greatest country in the world."

[@badman477]

The point about the social stigma is so true. I remember getting reduced lunch in highschool and I would be dreading getting up to the counter and putting in my 4-digit pin to get reduced lunch with other kids around me. And we would all know which kids had free/reduced breakfast and lunches which is what created that social pressure

[@-N0V4-]

Kids paying off school lunches gives strong, "We've finally shut down the orphan crushing machine." And no one is asking why there's an orphan crushing machine in the first place

[@mj91212]

Well said!

[@Dronebertios_World]

The orphan crushing machine is called the foster care system.

[@Wence42]

Except we didn't shut down the orphan crushing machine, children are managing to save one another from the machine, but it is still fully operational.

[@RamenNoodle1985]

Yeah, that was my first thought. Kids paying off lunch debt for other kids is definitely OCM material

[@hanifarroisimukhlis5989]

That and workers "donating" their sick leave for that one worker. As if companies can't spare some few more sick leaves.

[@mikejenkins1270]

John seemed extra passionate about this compared to other episodes, and he made me a little emotional too. Kids not eating, kids being shamed and borderline bullied by the school for not paying, it's truly awful. As a society we need to protect children, there's nothing more important.

[@starcherry6814]

Yeah its literally the bare minimum

[@eldritchteletubby9319]

He's a father. I'm not surprised it would hit a little harder for him.

[@ecosta]

Bizarre how certain politicians are so into protecting kids against stupid things like furry kids pooping in litter boxes, but they don't give a damn about kids starving.

[@RachelRothwell423]

I love how passionate he is about the topics he covers!

[@joemiller7082]

It’s appalling.

[@Konraden]

"It's more expensive to limit aid than it is to just give it" is kind of standard. Florida did the drug-testing for welfare program for a little bit. It kicked off almost no one but cost a ton of money to administrate. It costs almost 4x as much to administrate SNAP's fraud prevention than it does give away in fraudulent benefits.

[@scifirealism5943]

Because Republicans don't care about the costs. They're willing to pay MORE if it means they get to see people they don't like to suffer.

[@CortexNewsService]

I heard about that. Only two people had their benefits cut off out of a couple hundred thousand, right?

[@sarahcampbell5737]

Arkansas did the same! Was a total failure

[@scifirealism5943]

@@Konraden yeah

[@rogerk6180]

Fraud is generally always very low. It is just some people who convince others it is somehow widespread and world ending.

[@sage5530]

john oliver never fails to make me feel happy. we love you!!

[@arthurmatthewf5406]

I was Head of the School Improvement Council for a large county in South Carolina in the late 90's. We found that for almost 27% of the children attending grades K-5, the school lunch was the ONLY meal of the day. Either the parents had no money, or simply neglected to feed the child. As a result, we instituted a breakfast program for those children. Coming from an affluent area of Connecticut, I was mortified that the undernourish/malnourish rate was so incredibly high.

[@GaryHurd]

My wife taught elementary school 4th grade for over 30 years. We are in a wealthy SoCal county. She taught in a poverty pocket. I recall one of her students lived in a van parked in the driveway of a 3 bedroom house with a garage. 5 families lived there, there were one for each bedroom, the garage, and the van. They all shared the bathroom, and kitchen.

[@kreigguardsman3355]

Once again my state reveals how much it sucks

[@rjr6912]

"..., or simply neglected to feed the child" it's astonishing how many children this happens to. Parent makes plenty of money but either by willful neglect or just straight malice, winds up starving their child by not being there at home to prepare anything, nor leaving any edible food/me money with which to buy food for that child to feed themselves. That parent also failing to supply any kind of lunch money or sign any forms that might incur any kind of cost is in my mind someone weaponizing ignorance to the point of child abuse. And the worst part is, this isn't just one specific instance I am thinking of, I can think of three different friends/family members right off the bat who I know suffered this wholly unnecessary sort of food insecurity for portions or entirety of their childhood

[@mikeb.2925]

Former LT. Governor of South Carolina: “My grandmother was not a highly educated woman, but she told me as a small child to quit feeding stray animals. You know why? Because they breed,” Bauer said during a speech advocating that the government take away assistance to those who do not pass drug tests. “You’re facilitating the problem if you give an animal or a person ample food supply,” Bauer added, according to a report in the Greenville News. “They will reproduce, especially ones that don’t think too much further than that. And so what you’ve got to do is you’ve got to curtail that type of behavior. They don’t know any better.”

[@astronieadi]

Thank you 🙏🏾 as a former kid who only ate at school; you were one of the few administrators who actually helped kids like me, strive.

[@jefflabbecomedy]

That lunch shaming shit is rough. I didn't understand how school lunch worked as a kindergartner, and was a brown bag kid but I wanted pizza on Fridays. So I just got in line on Friday and ate pizza with everyone else. Months of this go on, and suddenly the school made me sit alone at lunch to eat, and sent collections notices to my parents. I got in a shit ton of trouble for embarrassing my folks and I didn't understand in the slightest until it was explained by my teacher the following year.

[@fuzzypickles3959]

I feel your pain, they made me stop eating at school due to embarrassment of my food card not working for a week straight in the 4th grade. I would just go outside and wait for ppl to get done with lunch from then on.

[@OffendingTheOffendable]

That was a hundred years ago

[@kevinbissinger]

​@@OffendingTheOffendable Username checks out

[@adomorgo]

​@@OffendingTheOffendablethere's easier ways to tell people on the Internet that you're a fucking loser

[@13699111]

Your not alone I was in the same situation growing up my mother refused any state assistance.

[@kami-cotler]

Former school principal. Universal free lunch also benefits the office staff because they aren't spending their time trying to collect lunch money from families, which is time-consuming, soul-sapping, and often damages the school staff's relationship with the families who need our support the most.

[@sylviacorwin9182]

good point!

[@debbieaellig2830]

Hallelujah for the wonderful lunch ladies. ❤❤❤

[@Lily-cx1vo]

Taxes are meant to help society. All society. That’s why I pay them and why I’m proud when they go to children and public transportation and fixing roads.

[@gotherecom]

"Take what you need. Contribute what you can."

[@MaeveDaly02]

Indeed. Contrary to what some people think, the Founders of this country were never anti-taxation. They merely wanted to have their say and the benefits that come from those taxes in a way they could see. Which seems to be ignored by a certain segment of people. And ironically, we pay more in taxes and get far less than almost any other developed country in the world. I would rather pay taxes and have that money used to benefit society (yes, I'm a "dirty socialist" because I believe government is meant to benefit society) than to give tax breaks to billionaires who don't deserve anything of the sort.

[@Jbig1430]

Well the issue is in this country they spend tax money to help other countries instead of helping the people in this country

[@SarafinaSummers]

That’s why, when I got my first paycheck, I cried genuine tears of happiness at seeing the taxes come out. I was, for the first time, giving back to system that I had been forced to take from, the Medicaid, Social Security, and other public systems. I wish I had been able to keep that job.

[@missprizm]

@@Jbig1430the vast majority of foreign aid is military spending. America has plenty of money for free school lunches and healthcare, but politicians are spending billions on foreign wars.

[@haqvor]

The real test for a society is how they care about their most vulnerable. Not giving enough food to the children when they are in your care when you are obviously able to is not the hallmark of any great country.

[@richgerow3472]

And the people who oppose feeding children claim to be avid followers of Jesus.

[@susannaselmin4496]

You should get a thousand likes!

[@beth8775]

Yes! "Great countries don't have hungry kids", should be on billboards everywhere.

[@valkyrja--]

​@@beth8775Great countries don't have billboards

[@Arosukir6]

They get no food *and* live every day in fear of being shot. If a great country protects its most vulnerable then we are truly one of the worst countries in the world. Possibly *the* worst, because for many countries imperialism/colonialism has made it impossible to provide for their people. We have the means but we don't use them. That makes us worse.

[@chanuppuluri8726]

"The food looks weird, it's too hot outside, it's too cold outside, and I. Saw. A. *Bird*." really felt like he was putting his kids on blast. 🤣🤣🤣

[@beth8775]

Do his kids know the difference between birds and him? 😂

[@kagehato]

@@beth8775😂😂😂

[@DanielGarcia-rx3kt]

​@@beth8775he did play Zazu in Lion King 😂

[@Flyingwithmissingbolts]

The bird part sounds like Sheldon

[@PatrickDoran2319]

I laughed so hard at when John Oliver talked about the Costco Hotdog.

[@Amertsi]

Hello- I am a present day lunch lady working in California. Thank you so much for doing this piece. Our work is oftentimes overwhelming, but at the end of the day I'm so happy to have found this job because it is incredibly fulfilling to know that I am providing meals to kids who need them every single day. I can proudly say that the kids, for the most part, like our meals- I work at a high school and we serve around half of the student body everyday, which is about 500 kids. This is difficult when there are only 5 of us in the kitchen, and we don't have the budget to add another employee. We are lucky that in our state, school lunches are free. This year I even overheard a kid saying "why would we have to pay for our food?" It's such a gift to know that the younger generation is starting to forget a time when they ever had to pay for school food. I really hope more people can become aware of the troubles our department faces and I hope more younger people like myself go into jobs like this. It is physically demanding but so worth it.

[@ThomsBP]

As a Californian, I appreciate your work and your effort. You’re doing an incredibly important job. Thank you you very much and have a great weekend.

[@ButMadNNW626]

Another Californian here! I don't have kids of my own or know any kids currently attending school, so I didn't even know we provided free school food until John put up the map. Makes me so proud of our state. Thank you for being a part of that!

[@slavicandsapphic7446]

To know kids are no longer considering having to pay for food is so incredibly heartening to hear. That should be the norm

[@voidstin]

Another Californian here with a kid in LAUSD! Thanks for the work and happy to pay a little extra tax to help pay for stuff like this. No kid should be hungry, and no kid should be shamed at school.

[@AnnamPrasanth]

That kid who asked “why do we have to pay for our food?” Brought tear to my eyes. No one can imagine pain from hunger until they experience it. Every kid deserves to be fed and fed right

[@hikari1183]

Universal free lunch is a law passed in Colorado and it is glorious. Support 100 percent!

[@mother_rebel]

I work at a school in Colorado and really love that the kids get free lunch! I would say about 90% of kids eat at school regardless of income. It also helps the parents cuz you don't have to plan and pack the lunch. A lot of the kids bring candy and chips in their lunchboxes. One criticism I have is that kindergarteners and 6th graders get the same portion of food! Some of those kids are bigger than me. One slice of pizza is not enough. The kids don't get seconds but can pay $2 for it. Even if it's not perfect, it's still a million times better than whatever these stories covered. Also, our lunch lady really cares and makes the food with love. You can TASTE it! The whole wheat pizza is so good too!

[@kevinrichards1539]

So proud of CO! Love living here and raising my kids

[@meganarriola3147]

I work for the MN Dept of Education and I cant be prouder to see our Commissioner, Governor, and other tireless advocates get the attention they so deserve! Having educators at the helm of education legislation is a massive game changer, and the positive impacts on our kiddos is being seen nationwide. Come to Minnesota, you won't regret it :)

[@icantollie]

Yo your governor f---in' rocks btw

[@thisistherevolt]

I'm very much considering it. But I'm also in Metro Atlanta and trying to fight for some of the stuff y'all have out here. It's a damn slog though. Our governor refuses to even acknowledge that Walz exists. It's like he knows he's not as good a man as y'all got.

[@kentroglobalinvestmentllc8921]

I can’t believe “we should feed children “ is controversial and provocative. I thought the word to describe that statement was obvious .

[@SuziSPSquirrel]

To republicans it’s socialism

[@Blasted2Oblivion]

@@kentroglobalinvestmentllc8921 You would think so and I would agree. Unfortunately, some people in power seem to actively choose whatever path causes the most suffering for poor people. I don't think it's a coincidence that they usually have a little (R) next to their name.

[@richgerow3472]

And the people who oppose feeding the children claim to be avid followers of Christ.

[@MadAboutBrows]

​@@richgerow3472 too many "xtians" aren't actually followers of Jesus...they worship money, which goes directly against what Jesus said.

[@ghostlytavern129]

Don’t forget America was the only country to say food was a human right in a international vote. It’s a shame we have a lot that we need to fix here

[@aaronk8440]

I was a special educator in Baltimore public schools for nearly a decade. Nothing broke my heart more than when a child had to GIVE THEIR LUNCH BACK when they found out their account was empty. What the hell are we doing here, guys?

[@beefandbarley]

Preparing people to be broken, obedient slaves.

[@plinko84]

​@@beefandbarley It's worse than that. It would have been easy for someone to put a stop to this. But, we are creating Enablers to the worst parts of the system. So many adults from the middle class to those in power failed to put a stop to this. Because those value luxury over community. And it's kids that suffer for it. How is this a thing (in this country?)

[@beefandbarley]

@@plinko84 What you’re describing sounds like the overseers that slave owners employed to keep the slaves in their place. Also like the jews that worked for the Nazis in the concentration camps.

[@helena8999]

You’ll be happy to hear that school lunch is currently free in Baltimore city public schools automatically for all students, so things have changed a bit for the better! But I agree, there’s nothing more frustrating than seeing a student not being able to concentrate in class because they’re hungry

[@aaronk8440]

@@helena8999 Oh, really?! That’s awesome! I moved my family out of there years ago so I wouldn’t know. Thanks for the update!

[@__...Sunshine...__]

I'm Californian with an elementary school kid. I appreciate that having breakfast & lunch available to every kid at school in this State is just the norm now. No stigma of free lunch or reduced lunch or lunch debt... just lunch. That's it. They all just call it lunch now. Let's work hard so all the kids in this country can eat without stigma.

[@sylviacorwin9182]

My school district in Texas does this too! It is really nice, and the food is pretty good too!

[@lainiwakura1776]

Now if only this state can stop being so corrupt so the kids can have lunch ladies actually make them food from scratch instead of serving them microwaved garbage.

[@shellywolfblitzen3328]

I'm in Oklahoma. Last year our state refused fed lunch program, and my family income was just $500 gross above the cutoff. Our lunch bill for one kid was $100 per month, and even when paying that she was frequently served just a PB&J and a juice and nothing else. So we were feeding a second lunch at home most days anyway. This year our state refused the program AGAIN, and our school district was gifted into the federal program by the Cherokee Nation (Thank you Chief Hoskins! Stitt can eat shit!). I can now afford my antiseizure/migraine medication semi-comfortably, unlike last year.

[@christiangunter9940]

We were raised poor in Florida. We received a free lunch until about 10th grade. Our family needed help with bills, so my brother and I (twins) started working after school/weekends. Almost of our money was given to our folks to help out with money troubles. A month or two later we received a letter to our Mom, letting us know that the household made too much money to qualify my brother and I for free/reduced lunch. A third to half of our work income ended up going to pay for our lunches anyways, I’ve never forgot this lesson about our world.

[@christiangunter9940]

I will shout out that our Dean, who knew of our plight, would occasionally drop by my class and ask to speak with me outside the room. He’d ask how we were doing and how our mother was, great guy. He’d hand me a clear garbage bag filled with cereal boxes, fruit, and other non perishables from our lunchroom and would walk with me to my car so I could put it in there before the other students would see the “handout to the poor kids”. We went to a pretty wealthy public high school with most of the students coming from well-off families, who may have teased us if they knew.

[@TheRealGSmith]

There's other countries in the world though. Those evil socialist ones where the common consesus is that starving kids are one of the things the government has to combat.

[@lainiwakura1776]

Homemade sandwiches don't cost a third of a pay check even from part time work and would have been way healthier than what the cafeteria was serving you.

[@jackmckenzie6231]

@@lainiwakura1776 Never been hungry I reckon.

[@TheRealGSmith]

@@lainiwakura1776 True, but have you watched the video?

[@samualstanley8671]

My wife is a school lunch worker, unsung Hero, and the miracles that her and those ladies pull off every day to get all those kids fed is amazing ...they don't get enough credit feeding the future of America.

[@staciejohnson2207]

School lunch heroine!!

[@grayj7441]

Ya gotta love how the family values end at actual family.

[@mj91212]

Yeah, kinda seems like they just hate poor people or something. 🤨

[@EmanDeMoan]

​@@mj91212which is so dumb and arrogant, cuz nothing is guaranteed in this world. One day you have money, one day you lose everything. You must help others when we're doing good, and when life turns on us hopefully that karma will come back to us / or God.

[@Nobody-00000]

@@mj91212 Oooh, that's a bingo!

[@Skyspace187]

I was one of those kids back in the 80s 90s and even 2 years in highschool! Now, I donate regularly to our food pantry money and volunteer as often as I can. Working in Higher Ed, we also have first time students that struggle with food, at least healthier options, so I donate and volunteer there too! So many people are greatful, honestly nothing shows more gratitude than being there in person to help them.

[@pyroboss1013]

THANK you. I remember back when I was a kid and didn’t eat for days, and the only guaranteed meal was school lunches. After I was sat down and told I couldn’t eat anymore due to my 50$ lunch debt in middle school, I cried. When school meals were free during those two years around Covid right before I graduated, I remember the exact moment I was told like it was yesterday, I was so happy.

[@themadlibrarian2933]

That lawmaker who got a $1176 subsidy for school lunches for her children is entirely free to donate that money that she saves to school programs, or give several teachers $300-400 each to partly cover their school supply bill, to name only two possibilities. Universal school lunch simplifies recordkeeping.

[@joaquin8637]

and she is a lawmaker that has a high salary, why the fuck are the american people subsidizing her children education when she can afford a private school?, the same point of the free meal can be made off them taking public resources of public schools

[@themadlibrarian2933]

@@joaquin8637 Recordkeeping for universal school lunch is simpler to manage. I would prefer to feed a few dozen students from high-income families than dun families for lunch debt The cafeteria staff doesn't have to collect money. A member of the Minnesota House earns only $48,250 to $51,750 per year in most cases. If they are in the leasdership, they can get a 40% raise. Does her husband work? Using her income alone, she would qualify for reduced price school lunches for a family of 4 without the change to Minnesota law. I admit to being biased. I lived in a school district which offered free breakfast and lunch to all students regardless of ability to pay since at least 2014. I don't have children, but I don't begrudge that sudents their lunches. My mother ran the school lunch program at my elementary school, so I heard about the problems of the school lunch program from an early age.

[@jjfkm]

Or just enjoy getting something in exchange for her tax dollars. I’m on the political right, but I’ve never understood the problem with the people paying the taxes payer getting the same benefits as everyone else. You can make a case that it is the parents job to feed the kids, and government should stay out of it. You can make the case that it should be only done for those who really can’t afford it. Or you can make the case that it should be free for everyone. But the one case you can’t reasonably make is that should be free for everyone except the people who pay the most for it.

[@EternalResonance]

Yeah talk about everything except the fiucn Israel war thats costing us millions!!!!!!! Wonder why they haven't talked about it yet when at least half the country is against more war spending.

[@TheJensPeeters]

Or just tax her higher... I mean that's often a good way forward. Just give benefits to everyone and take it more out of certain pockets than others

[@jennybreen8350]

Minnesota Food Justice advocate here-one of the best policies ever passed in this state-should be nation wide. Thanks for the shout out!

[@barnabusdoyle4930]

You don’t save money at all by using precooked foods or pre prepped items. A lasagna is very cheap to make from scratch, $2.80 for 8 servings, or buy one that’s premade and spend $10 for those same 8 servings. Also, most schools hire 3rd party companies to run their kitchen such as Sodexo or Compass Group. Those companies only add to the expenses of running the schools’ kitchen.

[@FeliciaSims]

My kid's school just began serving free breakfast and lunch, and it's been a lifeline. I cried when I heard the wonderful news. It's great that it's free for all and there was so no action required. I remember being on a free lunch program when I was in school with just a few other kids and having to stand in a special line, separate from the majority, which drew a lot of attention because we were also served first to make sure we got food (because there wasn’t always enough for everyone). I can still hear kids whispering about me. At first, they were jealous that I got to go into the cafeteria before them. Then, some kid would tell them it's because I was too poor to eat at home, and then they'd pity me, and I felt ashamed. Children shouldn't be stigmatized for their poverty.

[@pdruiz2005]

Teacher here. God bless the lunch ladies/gents. They do so much with so little on the frontlines of the hunger crisis in the richest country in the world. I almost shed a tear when that lunch lady explained why she does what she does. And, yes, lunches have gotten a lot better. I eat them occasionally in the high-need school I work at in NYC. Some of the fresh stuff is top notch! Way better than the grub I was getting when I was kid.

[@rebeccalj6811]

Lunch lady here! Make sure to tell your school lunch ladies how much you appreciate them! They’ll love it! Because most of us never hear it. There’s never thanks. When other staff are acknowledged, we’re not. But yet everyone has strong opinions on school meals. Just not strong enough to bother thanking us, I guess.

[@diegoesteta]

Im in awe of what teachers do. You are truly my heroes.

[@diegoesteta]

@@rebeccalj6811 I still talk to one of the lunch ladies at my school. I am 39 now. She taught the meaning of kindness. I was one of those free-meal kids. She always sneaked a couple of chocolate milks for me to take home.

[@msjkramey]

Yesterday, I overheard a student with special needs being told that he needs to make sure he puts money on his account because he only has a dollar left. What if that kid forgot? A dollar isn’t going to be enough. Even if the kid didn't have special needs, kids forget all the time. He doesn't deserve to go hungry for ANY reason

[@e-swift3923]

I saw the title of this and thought the usual "how does America manage to fuck THIS up to dystopian levels" and was not disappointed.

[@outlawbillionairez9780]

We spend about a trillion dollars $1,000,000,000,000 on the military a year, and about the same for courts, prisons, and the total Justice system.

[@gruberu]

The true welfare queens

[@StrigidaeStrigiformes-sv6mj]

The Government: Fuch the kids. Who needs em' anyway. Military Recruiters: ...

[@hotohori69]

Also remember, the military are entitled to 3 squares a day...But if you are an enlisted man's or officer's kid you are not guaranteed any food at all if they go to public school. it makes no sense.

[@thatfatguy7591]

I believe our military spending is still more than Russia who is at war right now lol

[@cyberwoodoo9466]

Free education , free Healthcare , Public transportation. *

[@donnawho8297]

It breaks my heart to think about the kids that struggle with getting school lunch. One year we made $14 too much to quality for reduced lunch. Another time I found out that my kid forgot to give me the reminder about her lunch account being empty. She got to the cashier and they took her lunch away from her 😢 after standing there for a couple of minutes they gave her a something to eat that she didn't like.. She got home that day and burst into tears when I asked her how her day was.

[@scifirealism5943]

Politicians are still heartless

[@PhotonBeast]

That's f'ed up. I'm so sorry your kid and you had to deal with that.

[@13699111]

I can't accept the lack of humanity today. The majority of DJT supporters in my town are completely dependent on government benefits. The big privately owned farms collect the biggest amount of government aid . I'm 72 years old since Reagan was elected president it's been a 50 year race to the bottom

[@scifirealism5943]

@@13699111 Republicans want poor people to suffer and work for slave wages.

[@holli3716]

Honestly taking lunch away from a child is "just following orders" level of evil

[@tashumbriamiller]

I do not agree with a lot of things Texas has done but this year, at least in Dallas, school lunches are free for all kids. I think it's the best thing to ever happen. My son loves to get eat with his friends and no one has to worry about whether or not they'll be hungry.

[@realDonaIdTruck]

I'm shocked the state didn't step in to stop that from happening

[@hanifarroisimukhlis5989]

@@realDonaIdTruck Ken Paxton is too busy "dealing" with trans people.

[@briwindau4861]

That's a district decision not a state decision. Understand that it's a great and important choice as feeding kids is important, but it means the district is spending their funds on food over other programs because the state does not prioritize funding our public education.

[@darcieclements4880]

Oh wow so there's parts of Texas that have not become pure evil. That's great.

[@HungerGamesFan00]

​@briwindau4861 I'm sure that little Timmy is very sad that his friend Billy can eat lunch at the expense of Greg Abbott being able to eat that extra lobster with crude oil sauce. I'm not entirely certain why you pointed out that the education system as a whole is gravely underfunded, and that free school lunches are "taking money away from other parts of the education system", when everyone agrees that we should fund education more - we shouldn't just be shuffling the piddly piss amount we have currently, we should be taking more from shit like oil money and putting it to education

[@larstenfaelt1859]

Here in Sweden all kids gets free meals, no questions asked. I started school in the 60-ties and it was free then as well. Now they often have a selection. You normally givti school until 19 and you have free lunches all the way!

[@NMiller_]

I stopped eating lunch in high school because I didn't want to tell my mom I needed money. I had already given up on breakfast because every bowl of cereal I ate was one less for my brother, and I never knew when the box went empty when another one would come home. I'm literally in tears write now writing this, nearly 20 years later, because of the pain and shame associated with it all. I know no one will read this, but I also know a lot more people out there can tell you the same story, but probably won't.

[@icantollie]

Hear you dude. I lied and told my mom school lunches were free so she wouldn't feel bad. To this day I never saw what our hs cafeteria looked like on the inside cause I never once got to step foot in it. I'd tell my friends who were in the A lunch period that I was in the B lunch period, and tell my friends who were in the B lunch period that I was in the A lunch period lol

[@WyvernYT]

@@icantollie You too? It's occasionally come back to me, as an adult, that in three years of high school I never once got any food from the cafeteria. I knew the room (it was the easiest route between the two wings) but where the food came from? Nope.

[@SarafinaSummers]

Every tear you have shed is valid. Every feeling you are feeling, is OK. Your pain and grief are real, and you are loved in this space and time. Your love for your brother is palpable in this comment, and I hope he knows how much you appreciate, and value him. You are safe, wanted, appreciate it, and so, very strong. 💜 I hope that you have found some measure of peace, healing, and a fantastic therapist to help you through all of this. 🦋 emoji

[@theepicricemaker6611]

I lived in CALI in covid, and something that's odten forgotten is that in those lunch boxes given by the state they included fun little things for us to make. They had knock-ofd lunchable pizzas and other foods that were sometimes a moment of fun in a very bleak time in our lives. That helped, not a lot and it wasn't life changing but knowing someone cared enough to put the fun stuff in those boxes for us was so heartwarming. These people care.

[@spicyroo4429]

as someone who was on free lunch and most of the time before that was hitting the maximum of -$10, school lunch was the main thing that fed me. My parents both worked full-time and I was often home alone without much food in the house. it’s amazing how hard people can work in this country and still can’t afford to feed their kids, bright colored pieces of paper are disgusting. not to mention most of the time I was one of the kids that just wouldn’t eat because I knew how much it was hurting my parents. my teachers fed me more often than not and god bless them for being so kind ❤ greatest country on earth, eh?

[@tboneforreal]

The working poor are the most disadvantaged group of people in the US. They fall through most of the cracks in the system because they make too little to really make a decent living and make too much to qualify for most social programs.

[@MiniNymph]

The woman rolling her eyes behind the guy claiming he had never met a hungry person - I hope she gets to have a say in that talk.

[@theyinyang1103]

Props to John Oliver. This man can cover some of the most depressing, gut punch stories, yet still bring humor (the fingerlings bit). But most importantly, he brings awareness, something society needs.

[@donnavorce8856]

💯👍❤️

[@dylanlarose9171]

Also he can pick a topic that I don't give an ef about and bring a tear to my eye in less than 20min.

[@lydia1634]

Our Ohio school district has free lunches and it is a game changer. For our family, it's essentially an ADHD accommodation. We never have to remember to send lunch money as parents, and my daughter never has to remember to bring it. As a kid in middle school, I regularly had the school lunch debt stamp because I forgot to grab money or my parents forgot to give it to me. My kids never have to feel that shame. My daughter makes lunch half the week, but if she forgets or leaves her lunch at home on accident, she's OK. The stress we do not have to carry is astonishing. Sometimes it isn't just about poverty.

[@sunshine3914]

That’s the only positive thing I’ve ever heard out of Ohio.

[@Galworld761]

@@sunshine3914not true. Ohio has a lot of cool pockets. I go there for business. It is a finance and insurance hub. Columbus has great neighborhoods.

[@Galworld761]

It is absolutely a time saver for working parents. I am happy to do it for parents. Truth be told, I would rather distribute help directly to the kids wherever possible. I feel confident help is going to intended purpose.

[@josephjaramillo6256]

My local school district went digital. So kids type in a number and it gets detected from their account. But you have to pay an online fee to load their account. Makes me feel like I'm putting money on the books for someone in jail.

[@Leslie-wb8cb]

What district do you live in? We don't have that in mine.

[@Speakeroftruth5366]

I am from Massachusetts we passed the "Millionaires Tax" so kids could have free lunch and I believe free breakfast. NO CHILD SHOULD EVER BE HUNGRY OR HOMELESS!!!!. THE MILLIONAIRES, BILLIONAIRES, AND CORPORATIONS NEED TO PAY THEIR FAIR SHARE OF TAXES JUST LIKE EVERYDAY AMERICANS DO!!!!!.

[@markfoster1520]

Their "fair share".......no one's raising taxes on the rich. Just pay them!

[@PauIieWalnuts]

Is it "fair share" if they pay a higher percentage of income and total amount?

[@mutated__donkey5840]

@@PauIieWalnutsyes. You have more money, you can pay a higher proportion.

[@Kitajima2]

@@PauIieWalnutsThe most prosperous era in US history following WW2 came when we taxed capital gains at 75+%. And a wealth and inheritance tax. People always neglect to mention these things when glazing billionaires. Everything went to crap after Reagan

[@datafoxy]

Exactly no one should starve if there are people who have billions.

[@star2705]

I fondly remember the lunch lady at my elementary school, and I never even _got_ school lunches. Unless I forgot my bring-from-home lunch. She was so nice, and she used to teach us to skip double-dutch in front of the school after feeding us. A ribbon from her for doing like, a hundred skips is the only athletic thing I won, ever. When she retired, one of the other teachers wrote a song about how much we all loved her, and we sang it to her at an assembly. Thanks, Mrs. T. Thanks, too, to every single lunch maker who _wasn't_ my lunch lady.

[@gwnfan]

I've been coaching high school or junior high sports for a decade. Access to a good lunch is huge.

[@zachschroeder1796]

as a MN resident AND a centrist, Sen. Drazkowsi can bite me. I grew up with friends whose families couldn't afford to eat regularly. I know of families in my town whose kids rely on free lunches to eat. I live in a mid size town and over the past year our homeless population has exploded. I've lived in downtown Duluth, I've lived in small towns, I've spent time with people from all social and economic levels in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. If you think there aren't any people in MN who are going hungry you aren't just not looking for them, you are ACTIVELY avoiding them.

[@erika021]

I was born in Duluth and food (& heat) were always an issue. That was 50 years ago.

[@hoisamuro]

>Centerist whats it like being a worthless human being in all aspects

[@jessehammer123]

Why are you a centrist?

[@MichelleJones-p4e]

As a fellow Minnesotan, I 100% agree. Does that guy never leave his house, or is he just going out to the country club? Unbelievable! Look around you - there’s hunger EVERYWHERE - yes, EVEN in Minnesota.

[@marquisdelafayette1929]

It’s cognitive blindness. It’s been proven that wealthier people spend less time paying attention to the “little people”. It’s the inability to understand something due to the lack of a precept of knowledge, understanding or belief in a necessary fundamental concept. They have never gone without food or lunch money so they can’t fathom what it feels like for those that did/are. It reminds me of the millionaire who “gave up” his money to prove how “easy” it is to make $1 million in a year after voluntarily giving up his possessions. He made $50,000 before his “dad got sick” so he had to give up because he “needed help with care” which happens to normal people all the time and we don’t have a million and house to fall back on. Basically… life happened and it became “too much “.!🤦‍♀️

[@liiammiller7881]

My school every Friday would send kids home with what they called a “weekend bag” chalked full of canned foods and random snack stuff, we would not have eaten on the weekends if it wasn’t for whoever made that program available. Ty Random stranger I’ll never meet for keeping me feed and healthy. 🙏🏻

[@valkyrja--]

Why aren't parents feeding their children?

[@hive_indicator318]

​@@valkyrja--you're asking why people without the money to buy things don't have those things

[@josephjaramillo6256]

During the covid lock downs when kids were distance learning, kids could go to their bus stop and still get lunch. I'm not sure if it was a regular school day lunch or just a sandwich and fruit. But I'm glad they made it available. One school my kid went to would save things like bananas, apples, or other fruit you could wash. And kids could stop by after school and grab a package to take home. It's way better than throwing it away.

[@josephjaramillo6256]

​@valkyrja-- because the cost of living is insane. When I was a middle school kid, there were people who would go through both lunch lines to get 2 lunches. Then ask people for their leftovers. I thought it was so weird that these not fat kids were so hungry all the time. Then I grew up and learned about economics. I wasn't wealthy, but my friends always liked coming to my house because we had food. And my mom refused to let any child be hungry.

[@mushovers3006]

​@@valkyrja-- because they can't afford it, typically. It's hard being poor in the US, Americans are cool letting other Americans starve.

[@tegantalks9612]

Hello, I’m a Canadian early childhood educator and a parent. My children’s school provides any child who needs lunch with a healthy lunch for free, regardless of family income, through a community non-profit my town has called the community lunchbox. We also have local grocery stores that partner with our schools and donate breakfast items for our breakfast programs. The facility I work at is after school care and we also provide healthy snakes for the children. I have even gotten free boxes of perishable items from our local food bank that were about to go bad that were up for grabs.

[@LeeoJohnsonTV]

This brought tears to my eyes. I work in foster care and cooking for my kids is truly the highlight of my day. making healthy but tasty meals they can enjoy. Kids go thru so much, they shouldn't have to be hungry too. I remember when I was in high school, there was a lady who would always save a pressed Cuban for me after lunch. I wish I could hug her right now.

[@laalaa99stl]

That moment of self-awareness seeing yourself in Jamie Oliver is why we love you, John.

[@cretannia9790]

Seriously, how desperate are you for likes? How many comments are you going to spam within a couple minutes of the video posting? How pathetic are you?

[@cretannia9790]

Seriously, like 10 comments spammed within a couple minutes of posting. How pathetic is your life? Do you need that dopamine boost of seeing a like that badly? Genuinely pathetic.

[@cretannia9790]

You posted this within 60 seconds of the vid getting posted and a dozen other comments within a couple minutes of it. Is this a bot or are you genuinely that sad?

[@yesthenyes6727]

@@cretannia9790 The episode aired many days ago on HBO. Also, why the hostility to a positive comment? Everything okay?

[@cretannia9790]

@@BBBBBBBBBBBXEven that’s more respectable tbh

[@SteelGrip05]

I graduated from high school about a year & a half ago, & I can verify that there were a lot of concerned looks going around because everyone had become so used to the idea of lunch, & didn’t really understand why it was being taken away. It’s weird how something as basic as food can become an afterthought until it’s taken away. Whether we could afford it or not, there was a stability to the knowledge that *everyone* got the same (sometimes untrustworthy) food, I swear that it had a positive impact on our school’s culture

[@sunshine3914]

Well yeah, now they return to auditing parents & monitoring every student’s lunch card. Which they will probably have to hire someone just for that.

[@ninakrishnamurthy6674]

5:34 BASED Costco founder.

[@dylanwarner4514]

Tim Walz tearing up at 24:08 made me realize he's a great guy who deserves to be VP. I was a reduced lunch kid. When my mom started making more money, we had to pay full price and couldn't. I started working in the cafeteria collecting trays to pay for my food. I remember being called 'tray bitch' and students would smear their ketchup on the trays to make them harder to clean. I don't want any future kid to be shamed for not being able to afford their lunch again..

[@sylviacorwin9182]

How hard that must have been for you. I am so sorry!

[@jongameaddict]

25 here, and yeah... my hands used to get stamped all the time. No idea how many countless times I skipped meals at school. Sometimes teachers or other students gave me meals because I was crying at the table. Wow. I haven't thiught about that in over 12 years and this jsut reminded me. That's... Beyond words.

[@emmyswordhand2711]

Hi! I was one of these kids. I was abused by one parent (divorced parents), and my other parent was a very poor teacher. I could afford school lunch once a week, and my other parent would send me to school without lunches because i didn't bring home a lunch box. The only reason i ate at all was because both my mother and grandmother would keep food that they bought in their classrooms for anyone who couldnt eat. I would go in there and take my lunch. I remember getting that stupid stamp. That stamp was how my mother knew i was eating too many school lunches, and i didnt have the heart to tell her it was often the only garunteed food i got on days with my dad. He would cook, but they were things i would throw up, and then he'd get mad at me when i did, and not offer anything else. And my case was good in comparison. So thank you for pointing out this, and for validating all of us who were ever embarrassed by or tried to wash off those fucking stamps.

[@sylviacorwin9182]

So sorry that you had to endure that.

[@anneharrington2594]

I am totally in favor of school lunches, being free well and school breakfast being free for all kids K through 12 when my son and I had to go underground to escape the DV situation I applied for the school lunch program of course we qualified, but he refused to eat the meals because of the stigma of being one of the few kids on the programhe went hungry every day and no begging or pleading could get him to eat those meals. I was 25 years ago and it still makes me cry. Keep up the good work thank you.

[@blargy7283]

My oldest just started kindergarten in MN. We live paycheck to paycheck. Not having to worry about the extra expense of paying for school lunch gives me major peace of mind that he will be fed at school AND at home. My question is why is there opposition to this? "Let's make sure all kids in school are fed" should have ZERO opposition.

[@TeacupRats]

I'm in Arkansas and my son started Kindergarten this year. We live paycheck to paycheck too and I didn't expect it to be $50 a month just for lunches. We can afford it, but $50 a month is a lot for some people. It just makes me sad that people would rather see children go hungry just to support their own narrative.

[@icantollie]

Why are American kids less deserving than their counterparts in foreign countries? For all their talk of American exceptionalism, why do Republicans insist on our kids being treated inferior compared to countries? Like why do Republicans want America to be an s-hole country so bad?

[@icantollie]

...compared to *other countries

[@shadelings]

@@icantollie .... you ok?