Part of the package of "public school is a free babysitting service and a community uplifting experience" meant that the lunches not only had to be available to everyone, but had to be filled with so much nutrition that it could cover for kids who had 0 other food sources. Which meant a lot of "freshly" cooked food and a fullish team of employees doing it daily, even if half of it was immediately thrown away.
There are a laundry list of ways that failed horribly and were filled with nonsensical decisions, but that was the "intent" so we had decent food at certain points of history.
Part of the package of "public school is a free babysitting service and a community uplifting experience" meant that the lunches not only had to be available to everyone, but had to be filled with so much nutrition that it could cover for kids who had 0 other food sources. Which meant a lot of "freshly" cooked food and a fullish team of employees doing it daily, even if half of it was immediately thrown away.
There are a laundry list of ways that failed horribly and were filled with nonsensical decisions, but that was the "intent" so we had decent food at certain points of history.