@mattbrowne In our family, I am the Queen of left overs. I am infamous for taking home everything that is uneaten and untouched at restaurants. My relatives often set aside a portion of their food for me before they even start eating.
At a recent school picnic, there were 80 taxpayer funded picnic bags passed out. Each bag contained a sandwich, a bag of 6 baby carrots, and an apple. In the trash, I saw what appeared to be at least 50 sandwiches with one or two bites taken, probably 70 or more unopened bags of carrots and at least 40 apples with none, one or two bites taken out. They also provided one pint cartons of milk, two or three for each student and nearly every container was empty, They love their milk.
The teachers told me this was typical. The children are also provided a morning meal, and they eat nearly all the food they are given. They are given a mid-morning snack which is generally 80% consumed. The school receives taxpayer food funds for every student, because it is in a very low income area.
There is free after school care and they are given fruit and whole grain snacks in the mid afternoon as well. These are about 80% consumed as well.
She also said some of the students take all the packaged food they can get and stuff their pockets since there are other children at home that have little or no food. She tries to get those children on the Food Bank list.
My son is unemployed and volunteers at the school.