When Did Maine Schools Lunches Start to Look This Good?

Wow, school lunches have changed a lot since the days I was in school.

Granted, it's been a long time since I was in a school cafeteria, but based on the pictures I've seen on the Windham Raymond School Nutrition Program Facebook page, what they are serving for lunch looks so much more delicious than what I had in the 70s and 80s.

I remember that our hot lunches in elementary school were shipped over to us from the high school cafeteria in big plastic shipping containers that would be full of the same lunch for everyone in a styrofoam tray with a lid. It was usually a not-so-great peanut butter sandwich, no jelly, a piece of fruit, and milk. I may not be remembering that 100% correctly, but it's not far off the mark.

Take a look at what they're serving in Windham and Raymond.

BBQ Pulled Pork Sliders, sweet potato waffle fries, cole slaw, celery sticks & sun butter. What? Sun butter? I don't even know what that is, but it sure sounds fancy.

How about a steak and cheese sub, what looks like southwest corn and tomatoes and some kiwi along with celery and carrots?

And this sure beats the square pizza with a little bit of sauce and cheese we had when I was in school. This one's round, like normal pizza and is topped with shaved steak and made with a whole grain crust

And all these meals a free after Governor Janet Mills signed a law that allocates $10 million to help pay the difference for school meals after the amount of federal reimbursement they receive. All of the approximately 160,000 students in Maine are eligible for these free meals, regardless of income.

Windham and Raymond Schools also have such a great menu thanks to Chef Ryan Roderick who is the Kitchen Manager at RSU 14. He even does demonstration videos like how to make the best pizza.

You might want to skip the bag lunches parents because this stuff looks amazing!