High-School Students Start Social-Media Protest Against Michelle Obama’s Lunch Program

A new hashtag started by public school students is drawing attention to new federal efforts, spearheaded by First Lady Michelle Obama, to make school lunches healthier — with often-unappetizing results.

The trending topic #ThanksMichelleObama began when high-school students posted pictures to Twitter of their unappetizing Thanksgiving school lunches.

Trigger warning: May cause nausea.

https://twitter.com/Erin1Harris/status/535851575823310848

https://twitter.com/curtandnan/status/535504963368386560

https://twitter.com/idkaysia/status/535765629392134144

Michelle Obama has gotten plenty of criticism for her nanny-state approach to nutrition. LetsMove.gov, associated with the first lady’s initiative, says that the National School Lunch Program will focus on portion size and “low-fat dairy milk products, and less sodium and fat,” but it looks like something’s gone a little wrong in the process. Michelle Malkin reported in May that students throw out about $18 million a year in food in the Los Angeles school district alone because they find it unappetizing. It’s not hard, when perusing #ThanksMichelleObama, to believe that claim.

Following the popularity of the social media trend, the Department of Agriculture, which helps regulate and provide student lunches, issued a statement to BuzzFeed saying that “clearly many of the photos posted do not fully reflect the full range of choices students are provided.” 

— Christine Sisto is an editorial associate at National Review Online.