School lunch used to ace the test

What's up, Chicago? I'm Erin Allen, and this is Curious City.

It's that time of year, time to set your alarms, dust off that backpack.

Sorry, kids, summer is coming to an end.

So are you packing a lunchbox or are you going to eat whatever they're serving at the cafeteria? For many of us, school lunch wasn't really that exciting growing up.

But for one Curious City listener, Ray Salazar, it actually rivaled mom's home cooking.

It was just kind of like stick to your ribs in the middle of the day and it just made you feel warm and feel good.

And then back in the day, we could get a slice of fresh baked chocolate frosted cake.

It's hard to believe now, but Ray is talking about lunch served at Chicago public schools.

That was more than 30 years ago.

He knows this would shock CPS kids today.

He's a school teacher now at Hancock College Prep, a high school on the far southwest side.

These days, he says, the school lunches seem to be getting worse and worse.

Sad hamburgers, as one student described them to me.

You know, there's like a handful of chicken nugget things and like an apple.

And it's just I look at it and I'm just like, wow, is this what's supposed to nourish our students?

So coming up, we're gonna revisit this story reported by Sarah Karp.

How did school lunch go from delicious to disappointing? And later, we're gonna try out a beloved cookie that CPS stopped serving decades ago.

What's up, Chicago? I'm Erin Allen, and this is Curious City.

It's that time of year, time to set your alarms, dust off that backpack.

Sorry, kids, summer is coming to an end.

So are you packing a lunchbox or are you going to eat whatever they're serving at the cafeteria? For many of us, school lunch wasn't really that exciting growing up.

But for one Curious City listener, Ray Salazar, it actually rivaled mom's home cooking.

It was just kind of like stick to your ribs in the middle of the day and it just made you feel warm and feel good.

And then back in the day, we could get a slice of fresh baked chocolate frosted cake.

It's hard to believe now, but Ray is talking about lunch served at Chicago public schools.

That was more than 30 years ago.

He knows this would shock CPS kids today.

He's a school teacher now at Hancock College Prep, a high school on the far southwest side.

These days, he says, the school lunches seem to be getting worse and worse.

Sad hamburgers, as one student described them to me.

You know, there's like a handful of chicken nugget things and like an apple.

And it's just I look at it and I'm just like, wow, is this what's supposed to nourish our students?

So coming up, we're gonna revisit this story reported by Sarah Karp.

How did school lunch go from delicious to disappointing? And later, we're gonna try out a beloved cookie that CPS stopped serving decades ago.