Belson eats with Medford High students after threatened boycott
Medford Public Schools.photo
Superintendent Roy Belson, second from right, at lunch on Monday with students.
Superintendent Roy Belson and other school officials dined with students in the Medford High cafeteria on Monday, after nearly 500 students threatened to boycott the school lunch menu last week on Facebook, calling the food unhealthy.
Belson ate two school lunches on Monday, according to a statement posted on the Medford Public Schools website.
He enjoyed a burger; baked potato puffs; whole-grain pizza; fruit; and juice, the statement reads, and he also solicited student feedback on the menu.
"The exchanges between students and staff were informative and valuable, and school officials will be working with students to achieve the common goal of the best possible school lunch," the statement reads.
Students had pledged on a private Facebook page and a Yahoo chat forum to wage a weeklong boycott of the school lunch menu beginning on Monday, accusing the school of serving "unsafe" entrees.
Belson told the Globe last week that federal law requires the school district to take more precautions than commercial markets do in preparing and serving food. He doubted that the boycott had taken place after his lunch on Monday, according to the statement.
That drew catcalls from students on the private Facebook page, dubbed Boycott of Medford High School Lunches, with many teeing off on the food.
"[I]'ve gotten juice with random chunks [of stuff] in it. [A]nd stale milk," one student wrote.
Another student said that she's "found hair in my pizza numerous times over the years."
But Monday was a cheeseburger day, and Food Services Director Jeanne Irwin said the staff saw "a slight decline" in sales, to the tune of about 50 or 60 fewer burgers than usual.
"We continue to solicit feedback and will resume our 'High School Focus Group' meetings on [Dec. 17]," Irwin said in an e-mail.
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