YUCK! A School Lunch Expose

IMAGE: https://www.facebook.com/yuckmovie

I've been working food education into my movement and stress management programs for years, but I want you to remember the name: "Zachary Maxwell" (Pictured at left). This kid is taking food education to the next level!

Zachary, an 11 year old fourth-grader at a New York City public school, embarked on a secret  six-month mission to expose the yucky truth of school lunches. Using hidden cameras, this creatively brilliant young filmmaker documented dozens of lunches he and his classmates were served at school. During his investigation, he compared the descriptions on the lunch menus with secretly recorded videos of what was actually being served in the cafeteria.


“It sounded like it was coming from the finest restaurant, but what we were actually getting served, it wasn’t too good,” Zachary said in an ABC news interview.

So, with the support of and a little help from his dad, Zachary put together the documentary: “Yuck: A 4th Grader’s Documentary About School Lunch”. Zachary's film is being presented at the Manhattan Film Festival today.

Its interesting to note that starting in September, NYC Public School students will face detention and/or suspension for making video and audio recordings without permission.Some feel this is a sad civics lesson for kids: government gets caught and responds with abridgment of First Amendment rights. 

Some note that if the problem had not been there in the first place, this film would not have been made. Maybe administrations should focus more energy on fixing of the problem - inadequate food sources - rather than blaming students for standing up, speaking out & pointing to the problem. 

My prediction is that we are going to see more and more students taking on projects like this, and speaking out and changing not only the way school lunches are served, but also other inadequate, ineffective and unfair policies.


See Zachar'y interview here

YUCK Facebook Page

See the Movie Trailer here

YUCK! About The Movie

NY Public Schools Ban Unauthorized Videos (and E-Cigarettes)




Related Articles:

The Unappetizing Politics of School Lunches

School Food Revolution

Salad Bars in Schools




Contact: bodylogique@yahoo.com


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