<description>&lt;p&gt;$40 billion. That’s how much the “Big Three” food service contractors—Aramark, Sodexo, and Chartwells—earned in the United States in 2019. Many public school meal programs are run by private companies with a documented history of cutting employee wages, reducing food quality, and pocketing incentives meant for schools. Reporter Jessica Terrell details how corporations profit off the public school lunch system, and talks to some of the people who have worked to hold them accountable. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;This episode includes an annotated transcript with links to sources used in the reporting. This podcast was created by editors at The Counter and produced by LWC Studios. It is made possible by grants from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Counter's 6-year archive of award-winning food journalism remains accessible to the public at &lt;a href="http://thecounter.org/" target="_blank"&gt;thecounter.org&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt; </description>

Left Over: How Corporations and Politicians Are Milking the American School Lunch

[email protected] (Emma Forbes, Anne Lim, Kori Doran, Juleyka Lantigua, Paulina Velasco, Jessica Terrell, Kate Gallagher, Michelle Baker)

"Their Job Is Not to Make Kids Healthier"

MAR 15, 202333 MIN
Left Over: How Corporations and Politicians Are Milking the American School Lunch

"Their Job Is Not to Make Kids Healthier"

MAR 15, 202333 MIN

Description

$40 billion. That’s how much the “Big Three” food service contractors—Aramark, Sodexo, and Chartwells—earned in the United States in 2019. Many public school meal programs are run by private companies with a documented history of cutting employee wages, reducing food quality, and pocketing incentives meant for schools. Reporter Jessica Terrell details how corporations profit off the public school lunch system, and talks to some of the people who have worked to hold them accountable. 

This episode includes an annotated transcript with links to sources used in the reporting. This podcast was created by editors at The Counter and produced by LWC Studios. It is made possible by grants from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The Counter's 6-year archive of award-winning food journalism remains accessible to the public at thecounter.org.