SCHOFIELD, Wis. – Meghan Hellrood deems the boycott she organized of paltry school lunches at her high school a “success.”



The D.C. Everest High School senior organized the boycott of the “healthy” overhaul of her school’s lunches, which came as the result of an effort championed by First Lady Michelle Obama.

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“We looked at our lunches, and we were like, you know we’re not being served anything that’s really that healthy and we’re just being served really small portions of processed foods and we want more healthy options,” Hellrood tells WSAW.

The night before the boycott, the student and her friends packed more than sixty lunch bags and urged their classmates to avoid buying hot lunch the next day.

“The group of friends even made lunches for student who may not have been able to afford not getting a school lunch Thursday,” the news station reports.

“We made turkey and ham sandwiches, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, salami sandwiches. And then we put in Nutrigrain bars and yogurt and included a water with it too,” Hellrood says.

“The whole point of this, the boycott (is) we wanted for the media to get involved so that essentially Washington and the federal government can look at this and say wow kids across the nation aren’t happy with our act here. Maybe we should revise it,” according to the senior.

WSAU confirms the Feds contacted the school when the USDA caught wind of the planned protest.

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“High School Principal Tom Johansen confirmed that federal officials have been in contact with the district’s Food Service Manager Christine Welsh to get feedback and suggestions,” according to the radio station.

“The goal of getting the government’s attention was achieved, and that’s fantastic,” Hellrood says.

The student estimates 85 percent of the high school students took part in the boycott.

She was told many students in the district’s other schools participated as well.

While school leaders sympathize with the students, they claim it’s not up to them.

“As a school, obviously we want what’s best for our kids. And we’re trying to provide very healthy, setting a good example for what a good diet is for a student. This is legislation. This is not something that’s school based so D.C. Everest really isn’t in a position to change these kinds of things,” Christine Welsh, Supervisor of Food Services at the high school tells WSAW.

EAGnews has previously reported about numerous individual schools that have opted out of the National School Lunch Program.

Towards the end of October, New York’s Schalmont High School ended its participation in the federal program.

“I would have easily lost 40%. That is how restrictive the a la cart rules [are,]” a school representative said.