MPS mom creates petition for better school lunches
Rebecca Adamitez is calling out Milwaukee Public Schools over the lunches served to students.
She says it’s so bad her son refuses to eat the food.
The mom says she was simply looking for feedback from other parents and had a goal of about 50 signatures. To her surprise, that petition now has more than 4,000 signatures and lots of relatable comments after having been created a week ago (August 18th).
“You hear so much that ‘oh’ people don’t care, or it doesn’t matter, or MPS has bigger issues,” says Adamitez. “So you start to feel like, do people really care?”
It looks like they do. In fact, 4,345 people have shown support for the petition, as of Friday evening, calling for MPS to rethink their menu options.
“It was shocking,” says Adamitez. “Then you see the number go up and up and then you see these really heart felt touching stories.”
Adamitez is a single mother with a son in MPS and a daughter in the Tosa school district.
“She was actually coming home like ‘oh’ you should be jealous, I get fruits and vegetables and I get three things to choose from,” explains Adamitez.
That’s when Adamitez says she began comparing menus between the school districts and noting meals that were served to students like her son in MPS.
“MPS has great cores and values, and they are looking for specific things for the child,” says Adamitez. “If we really want our kids to have better test scores, we need to look at the child as a whole.”
MPS sent us thins statement:
“Milwaukee Public Schools meets all federal nutrition standards for the meals we serve. The district is also a long-time supporter of the Farm-to-School movement, with our support of and participation in this effort dating back 15 years. We also work closely with a student advisory council to design meals that are not only nutritious but delicious.”
“I would love to work with them (MPS) and have some candid conversations with them about what we can do,” says Adamitez. “We have a big backing of moms and dads who wants to see it happen too.”
Adamitez says this petition will also be going to Mayor Tom Barrett, Governor Scott Walker, and Michelle Obama for her support in nutritious meals.
Adamitez also plans on attending the next school board meeting on August 31st.
You can find the petition here.