1 00:00:03,040 --> 00:00:06,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff Mom Never Told You from House Supports 2 00:00:06,360 --> 00:00:13,760 Speaker 1: dot com. Hell, I want to welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,840 --> 00:00:16,920 Speaker 1: I'm Kristen and I'm Caroline and we're talking about lunch 4 00:00:17,079 --> 00:00:20,119 Speaker 1: ladies today. Yeah, oh my god, what images popped in 5 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:29,520 Speaker 1: everybody's head? Everybody hairnet glasses, apron plastic gloves. Yeah. Perhaps 6 00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:34,280 Speaker 1: Chris Farley from SNL doing the lunch lady or lunch 7 00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:39,920 Speaker 1: Lady Doris or Dora depending on the season. From The Simpsons. Uh, 8 00:00:40,080 --> 00:00:44,320 Speaker 1: there's also Millie from Glee and Uh. I wanted to 9 00:00:44,440 --> 00:00:48,080 Speaker 1: kick off the episode talking about lunch lady stereotypes because 10 00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:52,240 Speaker 1: it's I feel like these stereotypes are things that people 11 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:56,040 Speaker 1: just carry around, maybe they don't even think about them, 12 00:00:56,080 --> 00:01:02,920 Speaker 1: but they are so inextricably linked with issues of classism, 13 00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:07,080 Speaker 1: um that it's important to examine them. Because another thing 14 00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:11,280 Speaker 1: that those three pop culture references have in common is 15 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:16,360 Speaker 1: that they are also overweight women. And you know, women 16 00:01:16,520 --> 00:01:19,560 Speaker 1: over a certain size in our society tend to be 17 00:01:19,640 --> 00:01:25,000 Speaker 1: devalued because of it. And so basically, we thought that 18 00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:28,559 Speaker 1: it was super important to talk about the lunch lady 19 00:01:29,480 --> 00:01:33,720 Speaker 1: because it is definitely she is definitely surrounded in not 20 00:01:33,800 --> 00:01:37,440 Speaker 1: only stereotypes. But she is also invisible most of the time, 21 00:01:37,480 --> 00:01:40,560 Speaker 1: whether it is because of our classes assumptions, or whether 22 00:01:40,640 --> 00:01:46,120 Speaker 1: it's about her weight, her paycheck, what we assume to 23 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:50,920 Speaker 1: be her level of education. Um. And there was actually 24 00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:56,600 Speaker 1: an academic take on the show Glee. There's a book, 25 00:01:57,320 --> 00:02:01,280 Speaker 1: uh called Glee in the New Direction for Social Change, 26 00:02:01,480 --> 00:02:06,640 Speaker 1: in which one of the chapters addresses Millie Rose, the 27 00:02:06,760 --> 00:02:10,600 Speaker 1: lunch lady and can you describe what Millie looks like? Yeah? 28 00:02:10,600 --> 00:02:15,600 Speaker 1: So Millie Rose is white, she is obese, and she 29 00:02:15,720 --> 00:02:19,400 Speaker 1: is frequently in the show the butt of jokes. She's 30 00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:22,720 Speaker 1: kind of a tool for other plot devices. And in 31 00:02:22,760 --> 00:02:28,640 Speaker 1: this chapter where they're talking about Millie, uh, they said 32 00:02:28,840 --> 00:02:31,960 Speaker 1: she is a cafeteria worker, which complies with the notion 33 00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:37,160 Speaker 1: that overweight women are consigned to lower wage, unglamorous jobs. 34 00:02:37,200 --> 00:02:40,200 Speaker 1: She's used as a prop a catalyst for talking about 35 00:02:40,200 --> 00:02:43,840 Speaker 1: bullying and eating disorders, but she is also a sad 36 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:47,880 Speaker 1: forecast for fat girls. They right. She is an unattractive 37 00:02:47,960 --> 00:02:50,600 Speaker 1: single mother who was left by her husband and who 38 00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:54,240 Speaker 1: is harassed by students as she works. Yeah, I mean, 39 00:02:54,480 --> 00:02:58,200 Speaker 1: I think that that really resonates with the trope of 40 00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:02,200 Speaker 1: the lunch lady. Who is kind of disdained. She herself 41 00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:06,239 Speaker 1: is sometimes portrayed as a bully. You know, she's big, 42 00:03:06,280 --> 00:03:10,000 Speaker 1: she's hulking, she's slopping food on your plate that probably 43 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:13,079 Speaker 1: doesn't taste good. I mean, in a lot of ways, um, 44 00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:20,760 Speaker 1: in real life, off of television, because of how disdained 45 00:03:20,960 --> 00:03:25,320 Speaker 1: public school lunches are, I think by extension, a lot 46 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:30,440 Speaker 1: of so called lunch ladies are similarly disdained. Like they're 47 00:03:30,440 --> 00:03:33,800 Speaker 1: feeding our children this awful food. But as we're gonna 48 00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:35,440 Speaker 1: talk about, more like it is hard out there for 49 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:39,040 Speaker 1: a lunch lady or gentlemen um, because they're working with 50 00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:42,680 Speaker 1: just nothing. They're just working with garbage. Really, they're working 51 00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:46,600 Speaker 1: with nothing, and they really can't be blamed for the 52 00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:51,000 Speaker 1: fact that their industry is laid out in the way 53 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:52,600 Speaker 1: that it is. So let's let's give you the lay 54 00:03:52,640 --> 00:03:54,920 Speaker 1: of the land to start with. This is coming from 55 00:03:55,080 --> 00:03:59,640 Speaker 1: the Berkeley Journal of Employment and Labor love from and 56 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:02,720 Speaker 1: that year they were about four d and twenty thousand 57 00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:07,120 Speaker 1: food service workers in American k through twelve schools. UH. 58 00:04:07,160 --> 00:04:11,880 Speaker 1: If you look at the demographics, they are majority female. 59 00:04:12,240 --> 00:04:16,279 Speaker 1: Of cafeteria workers are women. UH, and compared to the 60 00:04:16,320 --> 00:04:20,640 Speaker 1: general workforce. These women are disproportionately older and more likely 61 00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:24,200 Speaker 1: to be married with children at home. And since they 62 00:04:24,200 --> 00:04:28,240 Speaker 1: are likelier to be married with kids at home, this 63 00:04:28,360 --> 00:04:31,760 Speaker 1: might be a convenient job. I mean they're working school hours, 64 00:04:31,920 --> 00:04:34,080 Speaker 1: so you know, some of these women might be taking 65 00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:37,440 Speaker 1: the jobs for the schedule flexibility and the convenience of 66 00:04:37,520 --> 00:04:43,200 Speaker 1: working on school calendar and you know, day to day schedule. 67 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:47,279 Speaker 1: In terms of education, less than a quarter have earned 68 00:04:47,279 --> 00:04:52,040 Speaker 1: beyond high school diploma versus sixty of the population at large. 69 00:04:52,400 --> 00:04:55,640 Speaker 1: And in terms of race and ethnicity, um, none are 70 00:04:55,760 --> 00:05:01,240 Speaker 1: disproportionately represented. Yeah, basically they just year what the state's 71 00:05:01,279 --> 00:05:05,160 Speaker 1: population looks like. Um. And you know, Kristen mentioned these 72 00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:09,200 Speaker 1: schedule flexibility. So looking at hours and wages, most of 73 00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:13,120 Speaker 1: these workers work part time and only during the school year, 74 00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:16,920 Speaker 1: which definitely presents some issues when it comes to getting 75 00:05:16,920 --> 00:05:20,160 Speaker 1: a paycheck because the two thousand eight median hourly wage, 76 00:05:20,200 --> 00:05:23,040 Speaker 1: and granted this was during the recession, but it was 77 00:05:23,120 --> 00:05:26,480 Speaker 1: just ten dollars and forty five cents, with just twenty 78 00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:31,080 Speaker 1: percent earning minimum wage, and the media and school cafeteria 79 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:33,839 Speaker 1: worker worked about twenty five hours a week and forty 80 00:05:33,880 --> 00:05:37,560 Speaker 1: weeks a year. For a median salary or a medium 81 00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:43,280 Speaker 1: wage of just ninety three hundred dollars a year. And 82 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:47,160 Speaker 1: so it is no surprise then that statistically cafeteria workers 83 00:05:47,200 --> 00:05:50,960 Speaker 1: are more likely to be a part of low income 84 00:05:51,040 --> 00:05:55,039 Speaker 1: families than the general population at large. And so the 85 00:05:55,080 --> 00:05:57,599 Speaker 1: study that we were talking about from the Berkeley Journal 86 00:05:57,600 --> 00:06:02,360 Speaker 1: of Employment and Labor Law look specifically at nine states, 87 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:07,440 Speaker 1: and in those nine states, thirty percent of the cafeteria 88 00:06:07,440 --> 00:06:12,920 Speaker 1: workers were in families with incomes below twice the federal 89 00:06:13,520 --> 00:06:18,000 Speaker 1: poverty level Versus when you look at the general population 90 00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:22,200 Speaker 1: in America, just twelve percent of the general population lives 91 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:25,880 Speaker 1: at that level. And UM, I have a hunch that 92 00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:29,719 Speaker 1: since a lot of this work is part time, many 93 00:06:29,760 --> 00:06:34,239 Speaker 1: of these women are juggling multiple jobs, probably juggling multiple 94 00:06:34,320 --> 00:06:37,400 Speaker 1: jobs and not getting any type of health insurance or benefits. Yeah, 95 00:06:37,560 --> 00:06:40,560 Speaker 1: oh yeah. Twelve percent of these jobs these days, or 96 00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:44,360 Speaker 1: fifty thou of them are outsourced, i e. Employed by 97 00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:49,440 Speaker 1: private contractors like sadex So, Era Mark, and Compass, rather 98 00:06:49,480 --> 00:06:52,800 Speaker 1: than being directly employed by the school or the school district. 99 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:55,680 Speaker 1: And fun fact about me, um, I've done some work 100 00:06:55,720 --> 00:06:58,240 Speaker 1: for Ara Mark when I was in college. I would work. Uh, 101 00:06:58,520 --> 00:07:01,880 Speaker 1: concession stands at football time of time? Really, and Aaron 102 00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:07,120 Speaker 1: Mark was the contractor for that interesting and oh god, 103 00:07:07,200 --> 00:07:11,080 Speaker 1: if I have to heat up another miniature pizza in 104 00:07:11,120 --> 00:07:13,880 Speaker 1: a room, I'm sure that there are a lot of 105 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:16,000 Speaker 1: lunch ladies who would say the same thing. Yeah, that's 106 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:17,760 Speaker 1: the closest I got to lunch lady work. And it 107 00:07:17,880 --> 00:07:22,440 Speaker 1: is taxing, yeah man. And really, the reason why so 108 00:07:22,480 --> 00:07:26,040 Speaker 1: many of these jobs are outsourced is no surprise. School 109 00:07:26,080 --> 00:07:29,880 Speaker 1: districts really want to control costs, and going through these 110 00:07:29,960 --> 00:07:34,680 Speaker 1: large contractors reduced costs through things like bulk purchasing um. 111 00:07:34,720 --> 00:07:40,400 Speaker 1: But really, and very unfortunately, the main source of savings 112 00:07:40,960 --> 00:07:44,520 Speaker 1: is wages. They are paid so much less. It's the 113 00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:47,800 Speaker 1: exact same situation as we were talking about in our 114 00:07:47,880 --> 00:07:50,520 Speaker 1: last episode on custodial work, a lot of which is 115 00:07:50,560 --> 00:07:54,600 Speaker 1: now being contracted out because for a competitive contract you 116 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:59,360 Speaker 1: just pay them less. And how much less? A lot less. 117 00:08:00,200 --> 00:08:05,840 Speaker 1: These people working for contractors generally are earning about four 118 00:08:05,920 --> 00:08:10,440 Speaker 1: to six dollars an hour less, and they don't get 119 00:08:10,440 --> 00:08:13,240 Speaker 1: paid sick leave or health insurance. And I mean that 120 00:08:13,240 --> 00:08:16,120 Speaker 1: should sound familiar to a lot of our service industry listeners. 121 00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:18,480 Speaker 1: A lot of people working in restaurants, and I mean 122 00:08:18,520 --> 00:08:21,760 Speaker 1: the whole hands up in the air, de WTF moment 123 00:08:21,880 --> 00:08:24,440 Speaker 1: is like, if you're not giving our food service workers 124 00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:27,640 Speaker 1: the room and time and ability to go home and 125 00:08:27,680 --> 00:08:33,480 Speaker 1: be sick at home, they're gonna handle your food. You 126 00:08:33,559 --> 00:08:35,880 Speaker 1: might get sick as well. Like, so the fact that 127 00:08:35,880 --> 00:08:42,560 Speaker 1: we're not taking care of our citizens is outrageous. Um 128 00:08:42,600 --> 00:08:46,760 Speaker 1: and the school cafeteria workers are basically twice as likely 129 00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:49,800 Speaker 1: as the general population to participate in one or more 130 00:08:49,800 --> 00:08:54,240 Speaker 1: public assistance programs things like uh temporarious sistants for needy families, 131 00:08:54,360 --> 00:08:58,240 Speaker 1: or food stamps or children's health insurance programs. So basically 132 00:08:58,640 --> 00:09:03,079 Speaker 1: it's it's a bleak landscape out there for our school 133 00:09:03,160 --> 00:09:06,280 Speaker 1: food service workers. Yeah, so basically what's going on is 134 00:09:06,360 --> 00:09:08,720 Speaker 1: a lot of them are not being paid a living wage. 135 00:09:08,880 --> 00:09:12,320 Speaker 1: And for this episode we are focusing I guess more 136 00:09:12,440 --> 00:09:16,720 Speaker 1: on K through twelve food service workers. But reading about 137 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:19,880 Speaker 1: this kept reminding me so much of College Caroline, where 138 00:09:20,559 --> 00:09:27,240 Speaker 1: in our college town there's such there's such stark optics 139 00:09:27,320 --> 00:09:32,199 Speaker 1: because you have um on on one road. On one side, 140 00:09:32,240 --> 00:09:38,559 Speaker 1: you have dorms and a huge recently renovated dining hall 141 00:09:38,800 --> 00:09:42,960 Speaker 1: where a lot of you know, these food service employees 142 00:09:43,480 --> 00:09:48,400 Speaker 1: work for very few wages. They are almost all African 143 00:09:48,400 --> 00:09:52,319 Speaker 1: American unless they're student workers. And right across the street 144 00:09:52,360 --> 00:09:55,640 Speaker 1: from that our government housing projects where a lot of 145 00:09:55,679 --> 00:09:59,160 Speaker 1: those same food service workers live, a lot of whom 146 00:09:59,280 --> 00:10:02,480 Speaker 1: are you know, obviously not getting a living wage. They 147 00:10:02,480 --> 00:10:04,400 Speaker 1: don't get any benefits. And in fact, while you and 148 00:10:04,440 --> 00:10:07,640 Speaker 1: I were in school, um, when we were both reporting 149 00:10:07,720 --> 00:10:12,400 Speaker 1: at the student newspaper, one of my assignments, long term assignments, 150 00:10:12,600 --> 00:10:17,880 Speaker 1: was on poverty in the city, and there was a 151 00:10:17,920 --> 00:10:22,920 Speaker 1: living wage movement among food service employees, in particular at 152 00:10:22,960 --> 00:10:26,040 Speaker 1: the school, just because there are so many of them, 153 00:10:26,240 --> 00:10:28,880 Speaker 1: and the university was so resistant, you know, to give 154 00:10:28,880 --> 00:10:32,000 Speaker 1: them any kind of wages because budgets and cuts and 155 00:10:32,040 --> 00:10:34,600 Speaker 1: all of that stuff. But it was just this sick 156 00:10:34,960 --> 00:10:41,520 Speaker 1: irony of a lot of students at this public university going, uh, 157 00:10:41,640 --> 00:10:47,920 Speaker 1: you know, being having their tuition paid by state taxpayers, 158 00:10:49,360 --> 00:10:54,200 Speaker 1: and yet public assistants cannot keep people who are then 159 00:10:54,280 --> 00:10:59,680 Speaker 1: feeding these students um in a living wage, you know, 160 00:10:59,720 --> 00:11:02,280 Speaker 1: I mean, it's just it's just disgusting. Well yeah, and 161 00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:06,240 Speaker 1: I mean the greater irony too. In addition to what 162 00:11:06,320 --> 00:11:10,200 Speaker 1: you're just talking about is the fact that historically and 163 00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:14,680 Speaker 1: even today, school lunch programs have been viewed as vitally 164 00:11:14,880 --> 00:11:22,320 Speaker 1: important for children's health, well being and success. And from 165 00:11:22,360 --> 00:11:25,480 Speaker 1: the dawn of our lunch program movement in this country 166 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:30,640 Speaker 1: basically and and even abroad too, all of these people, researchers, 167 00:11:31,160 --> 00:11:37,600 Speaker 1: home economics, professionals, just human beings, have been like, hey, guys, 168 00:11:37,640 --> 00:11:39,800 Speaker 1: we've got to feed our kids. They're like passing out. 169 00:11:40,400 --> 00:11:48,440 Speaker 1: And so to consistently undervalue literally our cafeteria workers is 170 00:11:49,040 --> 00:11:51,960 Speaker 1: it feels insane to me. But I gotta tell you, Caroline, 171 00:11:52,840 --> 00:11:57,360 Speaker 1: it was pretty fun reading about the history of school lunches, 172 00:11:57,520 --> 00:12:01,520 Speaker 1: partly because for some reason, I really love like vintage 173 00:12:01,600 --> 00:12:04,480 Speaker 1: food trivia. You know, like what did what did they 174 00:12:04,520 --> 00:12:06,920 Speaker 1: eat when they put in their little brown sack lunches? 175 00:12:07,160 --> 00:12:10,160 Speaker 1: You know, like a like a turkey leg and some 176 00:12:10,160 --> 00:12:15,800 Speaker 1: some loose raisins. Well, that sounds like a good salad 177 00:12:15,880 --> 00:12:21,400 Speaker 1: to me. You're just had a romaine away from from 178 00:12:21,440 --> 00:12:28,720 Speaker 1: a cop salad. Tell you what? Okay? So um? You 179 00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:33,760 Speaker 1: know not. Not surprisingly, cafeterias and lunch ladies have not 180 00:12:33,920 --> 00:12:37,680 Speaker 1: been around forever, although boy, would I love to read 181 00:12:37,720 --> 00:12:40,320 Speaker 1: about ye old lunch ladies. I mean, would those would 182 00:12:40,320 --> 00:12:45,040 Speaker 1: those just be like tavern winches? I think so? Well, 183 00:12:45,080 --> 00:12:48,199 Speaker 1: what I didn't what didn't occur to me, although as 184 00:12:48,240 --> 00:12:49,840 Speaker 1: I was reading it, I was like, oh, yeah, I 185 00:12:49,960 --> 00:12:52,520 Speaker 1: totally remember this, I want to say, from reading things 186 00:12:52,520 --> 00:12:56,000 Speaker 1: like Little House in the Prairie. But in ye old 187 00:12:56,040 --> 00:12:59,440 Speaker 1: school days, kitties wouldn't stay at school to eat lunch. 188 00:12:59,440 --> 00:13:02,320 Speaker 1: They would go home. Yeah, they would go home, have 189 00:13:02,440 --> 00:13:05,440 Speaker 1: their nice farm pale lunch. They would eat some fat 190 00:13:05,520 --> 00:13:10,720 Speaker 1: back and molasses with Laura angles Wilder. Yes, But as 191 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:13,760 Speaker 1: we as we move away from that, and we are 192 00:13:13,960 --> 00:13:17,839 Speaker 1: verging on the Industrial Revolution and moving into the industrial Revolution, 193 00:13:18,880 --> 00:13:22,000 Speaker 1: fewer kids are going home. Maybe they live too far away, 194 00:13:22,120 --> 00:13:26,480 Speaker 1: maybe they're in urban settings. But programs begin to be 195 00:13:26,679 --> 00:13:31,559 Speaker 1: established to feed children, and they tended to be charities, 196 00:13:31,679 --> 00:13:35,360 Speaker 1: not child nutrition programs. They weren't focused on like let's 197 00:13:35,400 --> 00:13:38,000 Speaker 1: get them a balanced breakfast or anything like that. It 198 00:13:38,080 --> 00:13:40,760 Speaker 1: was just like we literally have to keep our children 199 00:13:40,760 --> 00:13:44,360 Speaker 1: from passing out. Um. And of course, though once you 200 00:13:44,440 --> 00:13:47,720 Speaker 1: do hit the progressive era, you do have a lot 201 00:13:47,800 --> 00:13:51,920 Speaker 1: of well intentioned white people who are well intentioned and 202 00:13:51,960 --> 00:13:55,480 Speaker 1: generally classist and racist white people who are very worried 203 00:13:55,559 --> 00:14:00,280 Speaker 1: about the health well being an americanization of immigrant and 204 00:14:00,360 --> 00:14:03,320 Speaker 1: poor working class families. So you start to see them 205 00:14:03,400 --> 00:14:09,000 Speaker 1: really getting concerned about children being undernourished. So to give 206 00:14:09,040 --> 00:14:11,720 Speaker 1: you just like a quick though, like global timeline, and 207 00:14:11,760 --> 00:14:16,600 Speaker 1: I mean so quick. In Munich in seventeen ninety, that's 208 00:14:16,600 --> 00:14:19,680 Speaker 1: when you see the first soup kitchen to feed needy, 209 00:14:19,800 --> 00:14:23,760 Speaker 1: unemployed adults and children. So that's like way back in 210 00:14:23,800 --> 00:14:26,920 Speaker 1: the day, seventeen ninety, you get your first lunch ladies. 211 00:14:27,760 --> 00:14:30,640 Speaker 1: When we move into the nineteenth century, though, we see 212 00:14:30,720 --> 00:14:33,920 Speaker 1: France leading the way in eighty nine starting to feed 213 00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:38,600 Speaker 1: children from cafeteria type settings. Uh. And it comes to 214 00:14:38,720 --> 00:14:41,480 Speaker 1: the US in sort of mid century in the eighteen 215 00:14:41,520 --> 00:14:46,120 Speaker 1: fifties to New York and later in Philadelphia. Um, and 216 00:14:46,160 --> 00:14:48,760 Speaker 1: again it's you see a lot of this coming from 217 00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:54,880 Speaker 1: this progressive reformers who are like, we've got to feed people, 218 00:14:54,960 --> 00:14:58,360 Speaker 1: especially people working in factories, because we can't have them 219 00:14:58,400 --> 00:15:03,680 Speaker 1: just passing out on the machine or practical. So that's 220 00:15:03,680 --> 00:15:10,400 Speaker 1: a practical concern. Um. But in Boston in you get 221 00:15:11,040 --> 00:15:12,600 Speaker 1: I don't know if you could call her the first 222 00:15:12,680 --> 00:15:15,880 Speaker 1: lunch lady. She's maybe like the patron Saint of Lunch Lady. 223 00:15:15,960 --> 00:15:20,000 Speaker 1: She's a really fascinating figure. Her name is Ellen Swallow Richards. 224 00:15:20,200 --> 00:15:23,240 Speaker 1: Love her name, love her name, but she's a chemist. 225 00:15:23,640 --> 00:15:26,600 Speaker 1: She was literally the first woman admitted to m T 226 00:15:27,400 --> 00:15:30,200 Speaker 1: and the first to then teach at m I T. 227 00:15:30,480 --> 00:15:34,640 Speaker 1: Heck yeah, Ellen, but Ellen created the country's first planned 228 00:15:34,880 --> 00:15:38,800 Speaker 1: school lunch program after launching her New England Kitchen to 229 00:15:38,880 --> 00:15:41,880 Speaker 1: provide meals to working class families. So you see a 230 00:15:41,880 --> 00:15:45,320 Speaker 1: lot of this movement coming out of the Industrial Revolution, 231 00:15:45,520 --> 00:15:49,080 Speaker 1: the need to provide for people who perhaps can't afford 232 00:15:49,120 --> 00:15:53,120 Speaker 1: to our otherwise unable to bring their lunches from home 233 00:15:53,280 --> 00:15:56,880 Speaker 1: or to return home on their lunch breaks. And so 234 00:15:56,960 --> 00:16:01,840 Speaker 1: old Ellen, she had studied as a chemist, foods, nutritive 235 00:16:01,880 --> 00:16:06,440 Speaker 1: benefits and the link between nutrition and attention span and 236 00:16:06,480 --> 00:16:09,120 Speaker 1: ability to work. And so a couple of years later, 237 00:16:09,160 --> 00:16:13,360 Speaker 1: in eight four, her New England Kitchen joins up with 238 00:16:13,440 --> 00:16:17,360 Speaker 1: the Boston School Committee to provide lunches to kids at 239 00:16:17,400 --> 00:16:21,320 Speaker 1: public schools for a low cost. So the twentieth century 240 00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:25,800 Speaker 1: researchers start picking up on what Ellen was putting down 241 00:16:26,720 --> 00:16:31,280 Speaker 1: and realizing that her ideas were onto something, because yeah, 242 00:16:31,400 --> 00:16:35,880 Speaker 1: kids can't really learn effectively and grew up to be 243 00:16:35,960 --> 00:16:42,120 Speaker 1: effective soldiers without proper nutrition. So you see an increased 244 00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:45,160 Speaker 1: push around this time to provide food for students, which 245 00:16:45,200 --> 00:16:49,520 Speaker 1: is supported by home economists. So we jumped forward to 246 00:16:50,320 --> 00:16:55,600 Speaker 1: seven more than three students were participating in school lunch 247 00:16:55,640 --> 00:17:01,280 Speaker 1: programs and that number would rise to six million by 248 00:17:01,480 --> 00:17:06,199 Speaker 1: So why the boost, Well, because seriously, you need healthy 249 00:17:06,359 --> 00:17:10,000 Speaker 1: kids that can then grow up to become healthy citizens 250 00:17:10,440 --> 00:17:16,560 Speaker 1: and soldiers. So one reason why you see this uptick 251 00:17:16,920 --> 00:17:19,679 Speaker 1: motivated by you know, producing all these healthy citizens, is 252 00:17:19,720 --> 00:17:23,040 Speaker 1: because in the thirties and early forties, the Works Progress 253 00:17:23,080 --> 00:17:28,280 Speaker 1: Administration and the National Youth Administration provided labor and the U. 254 00:17:28,320 --> 00:17:30,800 Speaker 1: S d A provided food valued at twenty one million 255 00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:33,479 Speaker 1: dollars to schools around the country. So this was a 256 00:17:33,520 --> 00:17:36,760 Speaker 1: way of not only you know, feeding your little soon 257 00:17:36,800 --> 00:17:42,960 Speaker 1: to be soldiers um, but also employing people through the 258 00:17:43,160 --> 00:17:46,439 Speaker 1: w p A. Correct, because you've got to keep in 259 00:17:46,480 --> 00:17:50,520 Speaker 1: mind the context, which is of the depression of the thirties, 260 00:17:50,840 --> 00:17:53,600 Speaker 1: and this is also when you start having even smaller 261 00:17:53,640 --> 00:17:58,400 Speaker 1: schools getting kitchens installed, although in larger cities you might 262 00:17:58,480 --> 00:18:02,440 Speaker 1: have a central w p A kitchen that would cook 263 00:18:02,520 --> 00:18:04,960 Speaker 1: the food the day of and then rush it out 264 00:18:05,400 --> 00:18:09,800 Speaker 1: delivery style to the schools. I mean it's like Uber eats. Well, 265 00:18:09,840 --> 00:18:13,320 Speaker 1: I just I literally picture like the cartoon, which is 266 00:18:13,480 --> 00:18:16,879 Speaker 1: Vat being put in the back of like a milk 267 00:18:16,880 --> 00:18:21,080 Speaker 1: truck and some man dressed like the maytag man, like rushing. 268 00:18:21,680 --> 00:18:24,159 Speaker 1: There's so many competing visions in my head, like rushing 269 00:18:24,160 --> 00:18:27,359 Speaker 1: it to the school and like the vat of soup 270 00:18:27,480 --> 00:18:30,639 Speaker 1: is here, and but but he's been like, you know, 271 00:18:30,680 --> 00:18:32,919 Speaker 1: like making a lot of sharp turns because you know 272 00:18:33,400 --> 00:18:35,160 Speaker 1: the bells about to ring and the kids are gonna 273 00:18:35,160 --> 00:18:37,959 Speaker 1: come to the cafeteria, and the witches brew is like 274 00:18:38,040 --> 00:18:40,679 Speaker 1: slashing out into the truck. So it's a mess by 275 00:18:40,720 --> 00:18:43,560 Speaker 1: the time the milk truck gets carrots and eyes of 276 00:18:43,720 --> 00:18:49,000 Speaker 1: nut everywhere. You know, the Eyes of Newt lobbyists really 277 00:18:49,040 --> 00:18:51,399 Speaker 1: pushed for a lot of USDA A subsidies and got them. 278 00:18:51,480 --> 00:18:53,560 Speaker 1: They got them. They really just kind of shady deal. 279 00:18:54,600 --> 00:18:57,400 Speaker 1: But it's thanks to the success of all of that 280 00:18:57,600 --> 00:19:02,240 Speaker 1: Eyes of Newt incarrot soup that states started providing funds 281 00:19:02,240 --> 00:19:04,720 Speaker 1: to expand their lunch programs because they see what the 282 00:19:04,720 --> 00:19:08,359 Speaker 1: federal government is able to achieve through this program and 283 00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:10,920 Speaker 1: they're like, oh, well, we want to help our kids 284 00:19:10,960 --> 00:19:17,680 Speaker 1: be healthy soldiers as well. Um, and so by ninety four, Uh, 285 00:19:17,720 --> 00:19:19,480 Speaker 1: you know you've got a bunch of people on board 286 00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:22,960 Speaker 1: with this idea. Uh. The Office of Education released a 287 00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:26,880 Speaker 1: bulletin that talked about how only well nourished pupils are 288 00:19:26,920 --> 00:19:31,399 Speaker 1: able to derive maximum benefits from school opportunities. Uh. The 289 00:19:31,440 --> 00:19:37,440 Speaker 1: American Home Economics Association's policy included things like, uh, school 290 00:19:37,520 --> 00:19:40,119 Speaker 1: lunches are an important means of safeguarding the health and 291 00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:43,680 Speaker 1: well being of the nation's children. Uh. Their policy said 292 00:19:43,680 --> 00:19:46,440 Speaker 1: that the lunch program should be used as a means 293 00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:50,520 Speaker 1: of educating children and a wise choice of food. Basically, 294 00:19:50,560 --> 00:19:55,080 Speaker 1: this up swell of like high fives around Ellen Swallow 295 00:19:55,200 --> 00:20:04,200 Speaker 1: Richard's idea of good nutrition, healthy lunch equals well equals 296 00:20:04,240 --> 00:20:06,919 Speaker 1: good and healthy students as well. Now, would you like 297 00:20:06,960 --> 00:20:11,480 Speaker 1: to hear some sample menus? Oh? Would I? Yeah? Okay, great? Well. 298 00:20:11,760 --> 00:20:15,399 Speaker 1: The New York Times reported on this in seven the 299 00:20:15,480 --> 00:20:19,879 Speaker 1: headline Autumn brings back to school They lunches uh, and 300 00:20:20,680 --> 00:20:25,200 Speaker 1: the reporter notes, how, um, you know these lunch combinations 301 00:20:25,240 --> 00:20:28,679 Speaker 1: are gonna vary from school to school. Um. Also, you 302 00:20:28,680 --> 00:20:32,000 Speaker 1: know pupils can be kind of picky with their food, 303 00:20:32,280 --> 00:20:34,719 Speaker 1: but they said in one high school visited, there were 304 00:20:34,800 --> 00:20:39,639 Speaker 1: the special lunches that were considered an outstanding success. The 305 00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:43,640 Speaker 1: combinations for the day were a hot roast veal sandwich 306 00:20:43,680 --> 00:20:47,720 Speaker 1: with gravy, mashed potatoes, two slices of tomato, and a 307 00:20:47,800 --> 00:20:51,600 Speaker 1: fresh apple for eleven cents. I really love this this 308 00:20:51,680 --> 00:20:54,359 Speaker 1: part of the article, though, where the reporter notes the 309 00:20:54,359 --> 00:20:59,680 Speaker 1: pupils in general are beefeaters. Put pot roast on the menu, 310 00:20:59,800 --> 00:21:02,840 Speaker 1: and I'll take almost anything with it, even Spanish rice, 311 00:21:03,040 --> 00:21:07,040 Speaker 1: which they don't care for. They won't eat carrots. That 312 00:21:07,119 --> 00:21:08,720 Speaker 1: was me when I was I wouldn't need them either, 313 00:21:09,080 --> 00:21:14,880 Speaker 1: but they like them combined with peas. They like fish 314 00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:18,040 Speaker 1: all right. Uh and one of their favorite desserts is 315 00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:22,560 Speaker 1: Boston cream pie with chocolate frosting. Hello. Those sound like 316 00:21:22,720 --> 00:21:26,480 Speaker 1: some pretty good lunches. Yeah, yeah, um, I'll take some 317 00:21:26,520 --> 00:21:29,360 Speaker 1: peace and carrots in a Boston cream pie. And who 318 00:21:29,359 --> 00:21:31,560 Speaker 1: am I kidding? Give me the pot roast too. Oh 319 00:21:31,600 --> 00:21:35,560 Speaker 1: heck yeah, I love pot roast. I'm also a beefeater. Um. 320 00:21:35,640 --> 00:21:38,000 Speaker 1: You know, so we we kept talking about, you know, 321 00:21:38,040 --> 00:21:41,000 Speaker 1: school lunches are gonna make good soldiers and that's not 322 00:21:41,080 --> 00:21:44,920 Speaker 1: just Christen and me editorializing. Uh, this was a big 323 00:21:45,359 --> 00:21:48,719 Speaker 1: deal around the thirties and forties because there was this 324 00:21:48,920 --> 00:21:51,560 Speaker 1: revelation that a lot of the young people who were 325 00:21:51,560 --> 00:21:56,160 Speaker 1: being rejected from the draft, we're rejected because of issues 326 00:21:56,200 --> 00:21:58,960 Speaker 1: stemming from nutritional deficiency. So they were like, you guys, 327 00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:03,080 Speaker 1: we've we've got to feed them. We've got to like 328 00:22:03,119 --> 00:22:05,400 Speaker 1: force feed these children. We've got to give them more 329 00:22:05,400 --> 00:22:09,080 Speaker 1: Boston cream pie and pot roast and peas and send 330 00:22:09,080 --> 00:22:11,560 Speaker 1: them off to war. Um. I mean you also have 331 00:22:11,600 --> 00:22:14,200 Speaker 1: the fact too, you know, if we're looking at why 332 00:22:14,359 --> 00:22:17,840 Speaker 1: school lunches became such a hit, we've already mentioned the 333 00:22:17,840 --> 00:22:20,560 Speaker 1: Industrial Revolution, right, and then World War two hits. You've 334 00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:22,480 Speaker 1: got women leaving the home, so there's not as many 335 00:22:22,520 --> 00:22:25,560 Speaker 1: women who are at home all day long for students 336 00:22:25,600 --> 00:22:28,520 Speaker 1: to first of all return to and have lunch cooked 337 00:22:28,520 --> 00:22:31,480 Speaker 1: for them, but also just around to make the brown 338 00:22:31,520 --> 00:22:35,480 Speaker 1: bag lunches to send with kids to school. Um. And 339 00:22:36,280 --> 00:22:39,480 Speaker 1: you also have towards the end of World War Two, 340 00:22:39,520 --> 00:22:43,360 Speaker 1: I believe programs like the w p A being eliminated, 341 00:22:43,440 --> 00:22:45,840 Speaker 1: and the w p A, as Kristen mentioned, had provided 342 00:22:45,960 --> 00:22:50,680 Speaker 1: labor for these school lunch programs, and the war efforts 343 00:22:50,960 --> 00:22:54,520 Speaker 1: demand for all of the surplus food that existed in 344 00:22:54,560 --> 00:22:58,800 Speaker 1: our country. Um, all of that drained food from the 345 00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:03,040 Speaker 1: actual school program, and so there's a clear need for 346 00:23:04,240 --> 00:23:08,200 Speaker 1: nutritious lunches, but the support was kind of lacking. Where 347 00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:10,679 Speaker 1: in the middle of the war, the government's attention is 348 00:23:10,760 --> 00:23:15,280 Speaker 1: on the war, not so much on student nutrition. But 349 00:23:15,680 --> 00:23:19,119 Speaker 1: the minute they realize, oh my god, our soldiers, our 350 00:23:19,200 --> 00:23:23,159 Speaker 1: potential soldiers, are being turned away because they're basically malnourished, 351 00:23:24,040 --> 00:23:28,400 Speaker 1: all of a sudden you see incredible support for school lunches. 352 00:23:28,440 --> 00:23:32,520 Speaker 1: So in nineteen forty six, President Truman signed the National 353 00:23:32,680 --> 00:23:35,720 Speaker 1: School Lunch Act into law, and by the end of 354 00:23:35,720 --> 00:23:40,480 Speaker 1: the school year in ninety seven, all states and Puerto Rico, 355 00:23:40,720 --> 00:23:44,960 Speaker 1: the Virgin Islands, and Washington, d C. Had official school 356 00:23:45,040 --> 00:23:49,040 Speaker 1: lunch programs. So the lunch lady has a rive. There 357 00:23:49,119 --> 00:23:51,920 Speaker 1: she is. She's on the top of the hill, spoon 358 00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:56,479 Speaker 1: in hand, hair netted, waiting to serve you that Boston 359 00:23:56,560 --> 00:24:00,600 Speaker 1: cream pie. Clearly I am like i'd need a Boston Yeah, 360 00:24:00,680 --> 00:24:03,160 Speaker 1: we gotta find one of those, just like a doughnut. 361 00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:07,000 Speaker 1: Someone please feed me. I'm hungary. And of course you 362 00:24:07,040 --> 00:24:10,920 Speaker 1: should appear heroic on top of that hill, because lunch 363 00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:15,919 Speaker 1: ladies actually had an incredible role in this country's labor 364 00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:19,640 Speaker 1: movement and civil rights movement, and we're going to talk 365 00:24:19,680 --> 00:24:21,840 Speaker 1: about that when we come right back from a quick break. 366 00:24:31,080 --> 00:24:35,000 Speaker 1: So my enthusiasm for reading about vintage lunch menus was 367 00:24:35,080 --> 00:24:40,560 Speaker 1: topped only by my excitement at learning about civil rights 368 00:24:40,720 --> 00:24:44,040 Speaker 1: activist lunch ladies. Oh, I know, I had no idea. 369 00:24:44,200 --> 00:24:47,960 Speaker 1: And what's funny. Uh, well, my ignorance is not funny. 370 00:24:48,440 --> 00:24:52,240 Speaker 1: But it's interesting that when you google, you know, lunch 371 00:24:52,320 --> 00:24:58,920 Speaker 1: ladies history whatever, I mean, the nineteen University of North 372 00:24:58,960 --> 00:25:04,560 Speaker 1: Carolina Chapel Hill cafeteria worker strike is the thing that 373 00:25:04,680 --> 00:25:08,960 Speaker 1: comes up. I mean, there's almost nothing else. I mean, sure, 374 00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:10,639 Speaker 1: of course, we we just gave you a history of 375 00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:14,960 Speaker 1: school lunch programs, so there's obviously something else. But it 376 00:25:15,040 --> 00:25:19,200 Speaker 1: is such an important moment in labor and civil rights history. Yeah. 377 00:25:19,240 --> 00:25:24,000 Speaker 1: And and so this is getting into obviously college lunch ladies. 378 00:25:24,760 --> 00:25:27,480 Speaker 1: We're moving out of the K through twelve setting, but 379 00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:30,600 Speaker 1: we will come back to lunch ladies of all grades. 380 00:25:31,440 --> 00:25:36,879 Speaker 1: But we want to introduce you to the mostly black, 381 00:25:37,119 --> 00:25:40,080 Speaker 1: mostly female cafeteria workers at u n C who in 382 00:25:40,160 --> 00:25:46,000 Speaker 1: nine nine boycotted their jobs to protest unfair working conditions, 383 00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:50,159 Speaker 1: and their grievances were basically like I mean, they were 384 00:25:50,280 --> 00:25:53,560 Speaker 1: working in great conditions. Really they had condescending dining hall 385 00:25:53,600 --> 00:25:57,960 Speaker 1: management that passed black women over for managerial positions. Um. 386 00:25:58,040 --> 00:26:00,920 Speaker 1: The managers would split the workers work days and really 387 00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:04,200 Speaker 1: challenging and inconvenient ways when a lot of those women 388 00:26:04,240 --> 00:26:07,520 Speaker 1: worked or lived far away from where they worked, and 389 00:26:08,160 --> 00:26:11,640 Speaker 1: they would get their paychecks shortened and would not get 390 00:26:11,680 --> 00:26:17,240 Speaker 1: promised raises all because of really really terrible supervisors. And 391 00:26:17,280 --> 00:26:20,679 Speaker 1: I want to say that the students were not always 392 00:26:20,720 --> 00:26:25,120 Speaker 1: so kind to these workers either. Um. So you have 393 00:26:25,240 --> 00:26:28,040 Speaker 1: women like Mary Smith, who is a black woman who 394 00:26:28,040 --> 00:26:31,920 Speaker 1: had worked h in food service at u NC for years, 395 00:26:32,280 --> 00:26:36,679 Speaker 1: who was doing the actual managing, including training and ordering 396 00:26:36,760 --> 00:26:40,440 Speaker 1: food and supplies, but of course she was never promoted, 397 00:26:40,760 --> 00:26:44,600 Speaker 1: never given the wage that would recognize her role as 398 00:26:44,640 --> 00:26:50,000 Speaker 1: a managerial type of person. Um. And she, along with 399 00:26:50,040 --> 00:26:54,280 Speaker 1: this woman Elizabeth Brooks, was one of the leaders of 400 00:26:54,280 --> 00:26:59,080 Speaker 1: this strike in nine nine. So for Elizabeth Brooks, working 401 00:26:59,119 --> 00:27:02,160 Speaker 1: in that dining all was her first ever job outside 402 00:27:02,160 --> 00:27:07,560 Speaker 1: the home taking care of her nine children. And despite 403 00:27:07,600 --> 00:27:11,120 Speaker 1: the efficiency of Elizabeth and the sixty and other workers 404 00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:16,119 Speaker 1: on her shift. The white male manager would just watch them, 405 00:27:16,520 --> 00:27:19,480 Speaker 1: and Elizabeth Brooks said in an interview later, he made 406 00:27:19,560 --> 00:27:23,160 Speaker 1: us feel like we were just a bunch of slaves. Yeah, 407 00:27:23,200 --> 00:27:26,280 Speaker 1: And so there was also there's this great oral history 408 00:27:26,359 --> 00:27:29,840 Speaker 1: out of UNC about this strike. And and they also 409 00:27:29,880 --> 00:27:33,320 Speaker 1: interviewed Ashley Davis, who was not only a student at UNC, 410 00:27:33,520 --> 00:27:36,360 Speaker 1: but she was a leader of the black student movement 411 00:27:36,520 --> 00:27:39,639 Speaker 1: there on campus. And she told the interviewer that the 412 00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:43,880 Speaker 1: university would often hire these manager guys right out of prison. 413 00:27:44,240 --> 00:27:47,440 Speaker 1: Nothing inherently wrong with that. However, they would treat these 414 00:27:47,440 --> 00:27:51,160 Speaker 1: women terribly and would call them names like the one 415 00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:54,280 Speaker 1: guy who was over Brooks and her colleagues would just 416 00:27:54,520 --> 00:27:56,639 Speaker 1: watch them and wait for them to screw up, and 417 00:27:56,720 --> 00:28:00,520 Speaker 1: not help them and just be generally awful people. So, 418 00:28:00,840 --> 00:28:04,440 Speaker 1: you know, Brooks and several of the workers were understandably 419 00:28:04,520 --> 00:28:08,679 Speaker 1: fed up, and so they went through, you know, the 420 00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:14,360 Speaker 1: standard procedure. They go to the manager in question, They 421 00:28:14,400 --> 00:28:18,760 Speaker 1: talked to payroll administrators, they talked to other dining hall supervisors, 422 00:28:19,440 --> 00:28:23,639 Speaker 1: but no dice. And Brooks was kind of the driving 423 00:28:23,640 --> 00:28:26,520 Speaker 1: force for all of this. Elizabeth Brooks, who has the 424 00:28:26,600 --> 00:28:29,840 Speaker 1: nine children, because I'm sure she wasn't busy enough as 425 00:28:29,880 --> 00:28:33,960 Speaker 1: it was um but other workers hadn't originally wanted her 426 00:28:34,000 --> 00:28:36,840 Speaker 1: to speak out, But finally Brooks decided, I, for one, 427 00:28:36,920 --> 00:28:39,480 Speaker 1: have always been willing to speak up. And she said, 428 00:28:39,520 --> 00:28:43,440 Speaker 1: I've been raised that you do what you say. Yeah, 429 00:28:43,440 --> 00:28:46,160 Speaker 1: So basically that ties back to all of those raises, 430 00:28:46,200 --> 00:28:49,760 Speaker 1: all of those promised races and promotions and like, oh, yeah, 431 00:28:49,840 --> 00:28:51,320 Speaker 1: you've been here a long time, you do a lot 432 00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:53,720 Speaker 1: of work, you should totally get a promotion, and and 433 00:28:53,880 --> 00:28:57,400 Speaker 1: nothing ever came of it. They were plagued with all talk, 434 00:28:57,960 --> 00:29:01,000 Speaker 1: no action, and Brooks was just fed up with it. 435 00:29:01,040 --> 00:29:03,080 Speaker 1: I mean, here she is, She's like, listen, this is 436 00:29:03,120 --> 00:29:05,880 Speaker 1: not how I run this ship at my house, right, Like, 437 00:29:06,080 --> 00:29:08,640 Speaker 1: here's my first job outside of the home. I Am 438 00:29:08,680 --> 00:29:11,520 Speaker 1: not going to stand for this. But meanwhile, they're sort 439 00:29:11,560 --> 00:29:14,160 Speaker 1: of a perfect storm brewing in terms of like the 440 00:29:14,200 --> 00:29:17,240 Speaker 1: civil rights movement at U n C. Because you also 441 00:29:17,280 --> 00:29:21,080 Speaker 1: have the black student movement already taking a very active 442 00:29:21,120 --> 00:29:25,440 Speaker 1: and vocal stand against campus racism. Uh, the fact that 443 00:29:25,480 --> 00:29:30,000 Speaker 1: there was no good quality like African Studies program at 444 00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:34,320 Speaker 1: the school, that black authors and scientists were basically just 445 00:29:34,360 --> 00:29:37,960 Speaker 1: being left out of the curriculum in general. But they 446 00:29:38,080 --> 00:29:41,200 Speaker 1: lent their support to these cafeteria workers, and in a 447 00:29:41,320 --> 00:29:44,760 Speaker 1: December nineteen sixty eight list of demands that the Black 448 00:29:44,800 --> 00:29:48,960 Speaker 1: Student Movement sent to the university chancellor having worked with 449 00:29:49,040 --> 00:29:52,800 Speaker 1: the cafeteria workers, they did include one demand to improve 450 00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:58,080 Speaker 1: the quote intolerable working conditions of the black non academic workers. 451 00:29:58,800 --> 00:30:02,120 Speaker 1: And so you've got all of this going on, But 452 00:30:02,840 --> 00:30:07,200 Speaker 1: what sparked the actual February nine nine strike is that 453 00:30:07,240 --> 00:30:10,000 Speaker 1: you've got that one manager that we we mentioned earlier 454 00:30:10,040 --> 00:30:14,040 Speaker 1: who was watching Brooks and her co workers. He was 455 00:30:14,200 --> 00:30:18,719 Speaker 1: just particularly nasty to her one day, and one of 456 00:30:18,800 --> 00:30:22,600 Speaker 1: her co workers had been unjustly fired, and so these 457 00:30:22,640 --> 00:30:25,600 Speaker 1: workers are like, this is insane, this is ridiculous. So 458 00:30:26,840 --> 00:30:32,520 Speaker 1: she and again her majority black, majority female fellow staff 459 00:30:32,560 --> 00:30:36,280 Speaker 1: members get together with the Black Student Movement and planned 460 00:30:36,320 --> 00:30:40,080 Speaker 1: a strike for just a few days later. So let's 461 00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:44,080 Speaker 1: set the stage for how this strike went down. So 462 00:30:44,240 --> 00:30:49,760 Speaker 1: first the workers come in and they set up for 463 00:30:49,960 --> 00:30:55,400 Speaker 1: dining services, business as usual. The shifts supervisors, you know, 464 00:30:55,480 --> 00:30:58,080 Speaker 1: then unlocked the cafeteria doors for the students to come 465 00:30:58,120 --> 00:31:02,360 Speaker 1: in at that moment, and the workers walk out from 466 00:31:02,360 --> 00:31:06,080 Speaker 1: behind the counter and just sit down, and you have 467 00:31:06,240 --> 00:31:10,760 Speaker 1: waiting hundreds of students who showed up to support them, 468 00:31:10,960 --> 00:31:15,880 Speaker 1: who then took cafeteria trays and started just banging them 469 00:31:15,880 --> 00:31:19,040 Speaker 1: steadily in time on the counter. And for some reason, 470 00:31:19,080 --> 00:31:22,080 Speaker 1: I'm now pantomim ing in the studio being a tray 471 00:31:22,120 --> 00:31:24,320 Speaker 1: on the countering, we're getting caught up in the story. 472 00:31:24,760 --> 00:31:27,320 Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, I mean, what a what a cacophony 473 00:31:27,360 --> 00:31:30,720 Speaker 1: that must have been. Uh So, with all this happening, 474 00:31:30,800 --> 00:31:34,160 Speaker 1: the supervisors were like, alright, alright, we'll meet with you, 475 00:31:35,040 --> 00:31:39,320 Speaker 1: but again all talk and no action. So the workers 476 00:31:39,320 --> 00:31:42,600 Speaker 1: were like, screw this. They formed a picket line and 477 00:31:42,680 --> 00:31:46,520 Speaker 1: struck for nearly a month. Yeah. And what's what I 478 00:31:46,640 --> 00:31:51,360 Speaker 1: love about the story is that they had such incredible support. 479 00:31:51,640 --> 00:31:55,120 Speaker 1: It was not these lunch ladies out by themselves. They 480 00:31:55,200 --> 00:31:59,400 Speaker 1: were backed by the black student movement. They were backed 481 00:31:59,440 --> 00:32:03,080 Speaker 1: by the student movement. They had just students in general, 482 00:32:03,360 --> 00:32:06,200 Speaker 1: not just college students, not just black students, but they 483 00:32:06,200 --> 00:32:09,480 Speaker 1: have black and white high school and college students from 484 00:32:09,520 --> 00:32:11,720 Speaker 1: around the area and not just from U and C 485 00:32:12,240 --> 00:32:15,840 Speaker 1: who came out in support of them. And there's this 486 00:32:15,920 --> 00:32:18,360 Speaker 1: great line that Brooks has in her interview that's like 487 00:32:18,720 --> 00:32:22,400 Speaker 1: ding ding ding. He has a key to being an ally. Um. 488 00:32:22,840 --> 00:32:25,200 Speaker 1: She was talking about the white students who came out 489 00:32:25,200 --> 00:32:28,560 Speaker 1: and supported a strike, and she said they quote didn't 490 00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:31,360 Speaker 1: jump in and try to make decisions. They offered their 491 00:32:31,400 --> 00:32:33,760 Speaker 1: help and they let us decide in what way we 492 00:32:33,800 --> 00:32:37,360 Speaker 1: could use it or need it. How important this is. 493 00:32:37,560 --> 00:32:40,320 Speaker 1: This is the fight that we are fighting, and we 494 00:32:40,520 --> 00:32:44,040 Speaker 1: value your support. But don't just because you're white, jump 495 00:32:44,120 --> 00:32:46,040 Speaker 1: in and start telling us what to do. And they didn't. 496 00:32:46,840 --> 00:32:50,440 Speaker 1: Professors also showed up, and just local members of the 497 00:32:50,480 --> 00:32:54,080 Speaker 1: community came out to support these women. And the way 498 00:32:54,080 --> 00:32:57,520 Speaker 1: they were supporting them was cir collecting donations. They were 499 00:32:57,840 --> 00:33:01,000 Speaker 1: raising money by doing things like shining us. The Black 500 00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:04,160 Speaker 1: student movement even opened up a soul food cafeteria to 501 00:33:04,240 --> 00:33:07,760 Speaker 1: raise money because the dining hall workers would cook at 502 00:33:07,800 --> 00:33:10,960 Speaker 1: home and then bring it in to sell. And even 503 00:33:11,000 --> 00:33:14,800 Speaker 1: old Joe Bias showed up and sang. And in the interview, 504 00:33:14,840 --> 00:33:17,760 Speaker 1: Elizabeth Brooks even says to the interview you probably she's 505 00:33:17,800 --> 00:33:24,360 Speaker 1: that singer long hair. Yeah. Um. And so more than 506 00:33:24,400 --> 00:33:28,640 Speaker 1: a month later, after all this picketing, the Governor Robert 507 00:33:28,680 --> 00:33:31,720 Speaker 1: Scott agreed to pass legislation that would raise the workers 508 00:33:31,760 --> 00:33:35,960 Speaker 1: wages in addition to all other minimum wage workers in 509 00:33:35,960 --> 00:33:38,800 Speaker 1: the state. Oh my god, Oh my god. So striking 510 00:33:38,840 --> 00:33:43,480 Speaker 1: by Cafeteri workers with the very clear, loud, vocal, trade 511 00:33:43,520 --> 00:33:48,040 Speaker 1: banging support of all of these other community members, managed 512 00:33:48,080 --> 00:33:51,440 Speaker 1: to not only raise the wages of the women in question, 513 00:33:52,200 --> 00:33:55,080 Speaker 1: but also workers across the state. Because part of the 514 00:33:55,120 --> 00:33:58,080 Speaker 1: issue was that you had some of these cafeteri workers, 515 00:33:58,120 --> 00:34:02,680 Speaker 1: these women who had worked there for years, but they 516 00:34:02,760 --> 00:34:06,680 Speaker 1: might be making less than a new hire, or they 517 00:34:06,760 --> 00:34:09,400 Speaker 1: might simply be making less than what they deserve to 518 00:34:09,400 --> 00:34:13,040 Speaker 1: be making for their position in their seniority. And so 519 00:34:13,800 --> 00:34:17,680 Speaker 1: they were striking for like a matter of of maybe 520 00:34:17,719 --> 00:34:21,879 Speaker 1: twenty five cents additional an additional twenty cents an hour, 521 00:34:22,480 --> 00:34:26,400 Speaker 1: and the governor acquiesced. And the fact that it was 522 00:34:26,440 --> 00:34:30,160 Speaker 1: all sparked by a group of disenfranchised women of color 523 00:34:30,440 --> 00:34:35,600 Speaker 1: in the South during the Civil rights movement, I mean 524 00:34:35,800 --> 00:34:40,799 Speaker 1: just speaks volumes to their commitment and the impact that 525 00:34:40,880 --> 00:34:44,120 Speaker 1: they were able to have. And also, y'all never underestimate 526 00:34:44,160 --> 00:34:49,000 Speaker 1: the power of angry women. Oh yeah, especially women that 527 00:34:49,080 --> 00:34:54,120 Speaker 1: have the power to withhold food. So true, uh, And 528 00:34:54,200 --> 00:34:57,640 Speaker 1: no surprise, lunch ladies, are still politically active as part 529 00:34:57,640 --> 00:35:01,759 Speaker 1: of the labor and healthy lunch movements today. Yeah, so 530 00:35:01,840 --> 00:35:03,560 Speaker 1: first a little bit of context. You've got to keep 531 00:35:03,600 --> 00:35:07,680 Speaker 1: in mind that university dining halls in the United States 532 00:35:08,080 --> 00:35:13,480 Speaker 1: break in twenty billion dollars annually, more than Taco Bell, Burger, King, 533 00:35:13,520 --> 00:35:17,400 Speaker 1: and Applebe's combined. Oh yeah, because at some schools, a 534 00:35:17,440 --> 00:35:21,120 Speaker 1: lot of schools, you have for incoming freshmen, or if 535 00:35:21,160 --> 00:35:23,200 Speaker 1: you are living on campus, you have to get a 536 00:35:23,239 --> 00:35:27,799 Speaker 1: meal plan. Yeah, the convenient, it helps, It helps in 537 00:35:27,920 --> 00:35:32,200 Speaker 1: gaining the freshman fifteen. It helps for sure that Omelet 538 00:35:32,200 --> 00:35:36,799 Speaker 1: bar may never forget just my daily sandwich. That's my 539 00:35:36,880 --> 00:35:43,360 Speaker 1: talk show, the Daily Sandwich. Um And most of those 540 00:35:43,760 --> 00:35:48,520 Speaker 1: university dining halls. Again, you know, we talked about outsourcing earlier, 541 00:35:48,719 --> 00:35:53,680 Speaker 1: particularly in regards to elementary school and high school cafeterias, 542 00:35:53,760 --> 00:35:56,959 Speaker 1: but these university dining halls also outsourced their work. Most 543 00:35:56,960 --> 00:36:00,400 Speaker 1: are managed by those same companies. Ara Mark this in 544 00:36:00,480 --> 00:36:05,120 Speaker 1: sedex So. But the thing is, without consistent unions, without 545 00:36:05,200 --> 00:36:09,680 Speaker 1: consistent contracts, these workers face our cuts so that there 546 00:36:09,719 --> 00:36:13,840 Speaker 1: are hours in some cases are purposely never meant to 547 00:36:13,920 --> 00:36:17,160 Speaker 1: amount to a full time job. They might get a 548 00:36:17,160 --> 00:36:20,839 Speaker 1: paycheck based on you know, thirty nine hours of work. Uh, 549 00:36:20,840 --> 00:36:23,520 Speaker 1: they've also got to put up with harassment and general 550 00:36:23,600 --> 00:36:27,120 Speaker 1: job and security and the fact that a lot of 551 00:36:27,160 --> 00:36:31,160 Speaker 1: these university dining hall workers make a medium wage of 552 00:36:31,239 --> 00:36:35,000 Speaker 1: just over seventeen thousand dollars a year. But what's great 553 00:36:35,040 --> 00:36:39,200 Speaker 1: to see is that those students and those lunch ladies 554 00:36:39,440 --> 00:36:43,800 Speaker 1: from UNC in the nineteen sixties definitely created a lasting 555 00:36:43,920 --> 00:36:48,759 Speaker 1: legacy of students joining in to support basically the women 556 00:36:48,800 --> 00:36:52,040 Speaker 1: who are feeding them every day. Uh. So in twelve 557 00:36:52,320 --> 00:36:55,960 Speaker 1: at Northeastern University, you see a handful of students joining 558 00:36:56,000 --> 00:36:59,600 Speaker 1: a campaign part of the Real Food, Real Jobs effort, 559 00:36:59,600 --> 00:37:04,000 Speaker 1: which is a national effort by unite here to unionize 560 00:37:04,000 --> 00:37:08,800 Speaker 1: dining hall workers. And uh, these students were basically convinced 561 00:37:08,800 --> 00:37:13,080 Speaker 1: that the university wasn't taking these workers seriously in general, 562 00:37:13,719 --> 00:37:18,480 Speaker 1: but specifically they were frustrated and disgusted by workers reports 563 00:37:18,480 --> 00:37:21,040 Speaker 1: of sexual harassment on the job. So there was one 564 00:37:21,080 --> 00:37:23,160 Speaker 1: student that was interviewed for this article that we read 565 00:37:23,200 --> 00:37:25,960 Speaker 1: that was like, you know, I wanted to get involved, 566 00:37:25,960 --> 00:37:29,319 Speaker 1: and I spoke to these women in my school's cafeteria 567 00:37:29,480 --> 00:37:33,120 Speaker 1: and I was horrified to hear that, like they're constantly 568 00:37:33,160 --> 00:37:36,880 Speaker 1: being groped by this manager on the job and that 569 00:37:36,920 --> 00:37:40,840 Speaker 1: they have they basically feel that they have no no recourse. 570 00:37:41,280 --> 00:37:45,279 Speaker 1: And so their goal in joining forces was to convince 571 00:37:45,440 --> 00:37:48,919 Speaker 1: that company that ran the school's dining services to recognize 572 00:37:49,200 --> 00:37:53,799 Speaker 1: the union and to negotiate a contract formalizing certain rights 573 00:37:53,800 --> 00:37:57,440 Speaker 1: and protections for workers and spoiler happy ending they want 574 00:37:57,440 --> 00:38:01,800 Speaker 1: they were successful. Um And and the thing about Unite 575 00:38:01,840 --> 00:38:06,480 Speaker 1: here is that from twelve they were able to win 576 00:38:06,680 --> 00:38:11,200 Speaker 1: union recognition or a contract for workers on twelve separate 577 00:38:11,320 --> 00:38:15,720 Speaker 1: university campuses in this country, including Georgetown and Harvard Law, 578 00:38:16,480 --> 00:38:20,720 Speaker 1: all with more affordable health care and mandated annual races. 579 00:38:20,920 --> 00:38:24,399 Speaker 1: And never underestimate the power of students who were riled up, 580 00:38:24,719 --> 00:38:27,239 Speaker 1: you know, I mean they when you get together the 581 00:38:27,280 --> 00:38:31,359 Speaker 1: power of like collaboration, activism, and a sense of injustice, 582 00:38:32,040 --> 00:38:34,960 Speaker 1: go for it. I mean, even at our university when 583 00:38:35,000 --> 00:38:39,240 Speaker 1: that living wage movement was really going on for food 584 00:38:39,280 --> 00:38:44,280 Speaker 1: service workers, there was a lot of collaboration with student organizations. Yeah, 585 00:38:44,400 --> 00:38:49,600 Speaker 1: you gotta love and idealistic and impassioned young person who 586 00:38:49,680 --> 00:38:53,919 Speaker 1: was actually willing to walk the walk, not just talk 587 00:38:53,960 --> 00:38:56,920 Speaker 1: the talk. So if we move that same year in 588 00:38:57,800 --> 00:39:01,040 Speaker 1: to Chicago and look at their pell schools so move 589 00:39:01,080 --> 00:39:05,720 Speaker 1: out of college. Uh, lunch ladies were none too pleased. 590 00:39:05,840 --> 00:39:09,560 Speaker 1: That's an understatement at the trend which actually began under 591 00:39:09,600 --> 00:39:14,160 Speaker 1: Reagan of removing or just not including kitchen facilities at schools, 592 00:39:14,200 --> 00:39:17,120 Speaker 1: meaning that you've got more schools, more and more and 593 00:39:17,160 --> 00:39:24,160 Speaker 1: more schools just reheating that industrial made frozen food whose 594 00:39:24,560 --> 00:39:28,680 Speaker 1: nutritive value is questionable, and so they were therefore losing 595 00:39:28,719 --> 00:39:33,160 Speaker 1: out on fresh and sometimes even relatively local foods. So 596 00:39:33,200 --> 00:39:34,840 Speaker 1: in this article that we were reading, there was this 597 00:39:34,920 --> 00:39:42,080 Speaker 1: opportunity to basically feed Chicago public school students uh, locally 598 00:39:42,200 --> 00:39:46,239 Speaker 1: sourced chicken. But the thing is it came to them raw. 599 00:39:46,640 --> 00:39:51,240 Speaker 1: So the only schools that could accept the basically fresh, 600 00:39:51,320 --> 00:39:56,239 Speaker 1: locally sourced poultry, we're schools that had not dismantled their kitchens. 601 00:39:56,560 --> 00:39:58,960 Speaker 1: And of course a lot of those schools tended to 602 00:39:59,000 --> 00:40:03,400 Speaker 1: be maybe in the more wealthy areas of town too. 603 00:40:04,000 --> 00:40:08,960 Speaker 1: So then with the support from parents, the union workers argued, 604 00:40:09,160 --> 00:40:13,520 Speaker 1: a well run public cafeteria is a public service. Echoes 605 00:40:13,680 --> 00:40:17,839 Speaker 1: of Ellen Swallow Richards anyone, Hell, Ellen, Hell, Ellen, He's 606 00:40:17,840 --> 00:40:21,239 Speaker 1: still around. Uh. So they ended up winning a five 607 00:40:21,320 --> 00:40:24,080 Speaker 1: year moratorium on building new schools that did not have 608 00:40:24,239 --> 00:40:28,680 Speaker 1: kitchens or converting existing kitchens to the heat and serve model. 609 00:40:28,719 --> 00:40:31,520 Speaker 1: That meant more fresh food for kids and more job 610 00:40:31,600 --> 00:40:36,160 Speaker 1: security for food service workers. And also they secured them 611 00:40:36,160 --> 00:40:38,440 Speaker 1: a raise, bringing their pay up to an average of 612 00:40:38,440 --> 00:40:43,080 Speaker 1: twelve fifty with two percent raises each of the next 613 00:40:43,239 --> 00:40:47,920 Speaker 1: two years. Yeah, so again walking the walk. Also, did 614 00:40:48,000 --> 00:40:52,160 Speaker 1: you realize before reading for this episode how few public 615 00:40:52,200 --> 00:40:59,160 Speaker 1: schools have working kitchens? I didn't either. I had no idea. Yeah, um, well, 616 00:40:59,160 --> 00:41:02,200 Speaker 1: I mean a lot of it goes to what the 617 00:41:02,719 --> 00:41:06,719 Speaker 1: government is providing these schools and in what way they 618 00:41:06,719 --> 00:41:09,800 Speaker 1: are providing it. Because a lot of what happens is 619 00:41:09,880 --> 00:41:12,120 Speaker 1: you've got the U. S d A. Just like back 620 00:41:12,239 --> 00:41:14,600 Speaker 1: during the Depression and World War Two, you've got the U. 621 00:41:14,680 --> 00:41:18,720 Speaker 1: S d A. Scooping up the surplus food that's produced 622 00:41:18,719 --> 00:41:21,839 Speaker 1: in this country, whether it's meat and dairy or vegetables, 623 00:41:21,960 --> 00:41:24,000 Speaker 1: a lot of corn. It's a lot of corn, a 624 00:41:24,040 --> 00:41:27,719 Speaker 1: lot of corn and a lot of milk um and 625 00:41:27,800 --> 00:41:30,480 Speaker 1: providing it to schools. But the thing is, before it's 626 00:41:30,480 --> 00:41:33,040 Speaker 1: provided to schools, it's not like they drop off a bounty. 627 00:41:33,040 --> 00:41:36,840 Speaker 1: You know, there's not a corn Ucopia fresh foods delivered 628 00:41:36,840 --> 00:41:42,080 Speaker 1: every day. They send it to these industrial central kitchens 629 00:41:42,560 --> 00:41:46,120 Speaker 1: which then turns it into things like a burrito in 630 00:41:46,160 --> 00:41:48,960 Speaker 1: a bag or whatever, and then they sent to the 631 00:41:49,000 --> 00:41:53,399 Speaker 1: school to pop it in the microwave or what have you. Um. 632 00:41:53,440 --> 00:41:55,640 Speaker 1: And of course that's not everywhere, that's not everyone, but 633 00:41:55,760 --> 00:41:59,680 Speaker 1: that's kind of generally how it goes. And there's this 634 00:42:01,120 --> 00:42:05,560 Speaker 1: so called renegade lunch lady named Ann Cooper who's made 635 00:42:05,560 --> 00:42:09,759 Speaker 1: it her mission to push back against that insanity. So 636 00:42:09,800 --> 00:42:13,359 Speaker 1: in two thousand five, there was a terrifically entertaining New 637 00:42:13,440 --> 00:42:17,399 Speaker 1: Yorker profile of a Cooper who had been hired as 638 00:42:17,800 --> 00:42:21,799 Speaker 1: executive chef of Berkeley, California, Public Schools to revamp their 639 00:42:21,880 --> 00:42:26,080 Speaker 1: lunch program. And if you hear that, you might think, oh, Berkeley, Okay, 640 00:42:26,120 --> 00:42:28,560 Speaker 1: they hired a fancy chef. They're probably eating some she 641 00:42:28,719 --> 00:42:32,560 Speaker 1: she you know, micro green salads or something like that. No, No, 642 00:42:32,800 --> 00:42:34,920 Speaker 1: I mean there is a lot of the there's a 643 00:42:35,000 --> 00:42:38,560 Speaker 1: major wealth gap right in Berkeley. And so she was 644 00:42:38,600 --> 00:42:40,839 Speaker 1: going into the types of public schools that you run 645 00:42:40,880 --> 00:42:44,560 Speaker 1: into in a lot of urban areas where we're talking 646 00:42:44,560 --> 00:42:46,799 Speaker 1: about the frozen burritos in a bag that kids are 647 00:42:46,840 --> 00:42:51,319 Speaker 1: being served. And nothing makes and Cooper angrier than a 648 00:42:51,320 --> 00:42:54,120 Speaker 1: burrito in a bag. Oh my god, let me tell 649 00:42:54,160 --> 00:42:57,280 Speaker 1: you what she is fascinating. Yeah, I mean she's buds 650 00:42:57,280 --> 00:43:00,959 Speaker 1: with Alice Waters of Chapinice and that how she's getting 651 00:43:00,960 --> 00:43:04,120 Speaker 1: the funding to even do this. And she had been, 652 00:43:04,200 --> 00:43:07,040 Speaker 1: you know, trained as a chef. She ran the kitchen 653 00:43:07,400 --> 00:43:11,800 Speaker 1: at the super fancy Ross School in East Hampton, New York. Um, 654 00:43:12,000 --> 00:43:14,839 Speaker 1: and that was where kids were eating. You know she 655 00:43:15,000 --> 00:43:20,680 Speaker 1: she uh lentle froth with um. I literally was just 656 00:43:20,719 --> 00:43:24,080 Speaker 1: thinking about frost because I feel like anytime I want foam, 657 00:43:24,320 --> 00:43:27,640 Speaker 1: anytime I watched a cooking show, Anthony Bourdain is eating 658 00:43:27,840 --> 00:43:31,560 Speaker 1: foam in some other country. If a phone wanna plate 659 00:43:31,680 --> 00:43:33,880 Speaker 1: just really makes me mad because it is not gonna 660 00:43:34,200 --> 00:43:37,440 Speaker 1: fill me up, so insulting. I don't want my calories 661 00:43:37,480 --> 00:43:40,640 Speaker 1: to be frough. But she was doing cool things like 662 00:43:40,880 --> 00:43:48,640 Speaker 1: being able to pair say, Renaissance curriculum with uh like 663 00:43:48,719 --> 00:43:52,040 Speaker 1: medieval food. Yeah, you know she had yet she had 664 00:43:52,080 --> 00:43:55,239 Speaker 1: the money, the time, and the staff at her disposal 665 00:43:56,040 --> 00:44:00,759 Speaker 1: and food waste. As heartbreaking as this is to say, 666 00:44:01,160 --> 00:44:04,239 Speaker 1: wasn't that big of a deal. Because she had the 667 00:44:04,360 --> 00:44:08,440 Speaker 1: time and the luxury of allowing students palettes to adjust, 668 00:44:09,040 --> 00:44:12,160 Speaker 1: because even though these were very you know, well off 669 00:44:12,200 --> 00:44:15,799 Speaker 1: students at a well off school, I mean, they're still 670 00:44:15,840 --> 00:44:19,640 Speaker 1: just as picky of an eaters kids are anywhere. And 671 00:44:19,719 --> 00:44:22,480 Speaker 1: so you know, if they if they didn't like their 672 00:44:22,520 --> 00:44:25,239 Speaker 1: you know, smoked salmon or whatever the first day, well 673 00:44:25,280 --> 00:44:28,319 Speaker 1: that's fine, like maybe next Tuesday they will eat it 674 00:44:29,120 --> 00:44:34,920 Speaker 1: and then and on foam Fridays. So that's her background 675 00:44:35,440 --> 00:44:38,799 Speaker 1: that she's bringing with her when she gets to California. 676 00:44:39,040 --> 00:44:42,880 Speaker 1: And she banned heat and served meals. She made a 677 00:44:42,920 --> 00:44:48,240 Speaker 1: list of undesirable ingredients like trans fats and preservatives, foods 678 00:44:48,280 --> 00:44:51,759 Speaker 1: with too much sodium or fine flour, sugar, high fructose 679 00:44:51,840 --> 00:44:56,760 Speaker 1: corn syrup, et cetera. Starts looking for substitutes. She also 680 00:44:56,840 --> 00:45:01,960 Speaker 1: bands chocolate milk, milk with hormones, vending machines, fried foods. 681 00:45:02,040 --> 00:45:04,319 Speaker 1: And I gotta tell you that my mom taught in 682 00:45:04,360 --> 00:45:09,280 Speaker 1: public school for a really long time, and I loved 683 00:45:09,360 --> 00:45:12,560 Speaker 1: visiting her because I can always just pop over to 684 00:45:12,600 --> 00:45:15,840 Speaker 1: the vending machine. There were vending machines everywhere. Yeah, and 685 00:45:15,920 --> 00:45:19,319 Speaker 1: so that's part of the issue, actually, is I mean, 686 00:45:19,320 --> 00:45:21,800 Speaker 1: you've heard all of these efforts to like ban vending machines, 687 00:45:21,920 --> 00:45:25,680 Speaker 1: ban coke machines, and sugary drinks and Snickers bars and 688 00:45:25,719 --> 00:45:28,480 Speaker 1: all all that kind of stuff. Um well, not only 689 00:45:29,000 --> 00:45:33,600 Speaker 1: is the concern you know, children's cavities and their nutrition, 690 00:45:34,200 --> 00:45:37,480 Speaker 1: but there's also the whole issue of the government is 691 00:45:37,520 --> 00:45:41,080 Speaker 1: losing money. When kids are like disgusted by what they 692 00:45:41,120 --> 00:45:45,120 Speaker 1: see on their lunch tray, they tend to statistically go 693 00:45:45,280 --> 00:45:48,600 Speaker 1: spend their money at the vending machine. Yeah. I mean, 694 00:45:48,680 --> 00:45:54,800 Speaker 1: and reading the ordeal that this highly trained chef went 695 00:45:54,920 --> 00:45:59,880 Speaker 1: through to try to provide these healthier lunches, well balanced 696 00:46:00,080 --> 00:46:04,240 Speaker 1: lunch is really hammers home. I mean the tough job 697 00:46:04,600 --> 00:46:07,920 Speaker 1: that an average cafeteria worker is going to have because 698 00:46:08,200 --> 00:46:12,200 Speaker 1: I mean, you have to just work with whatever you're given, right, 699 00:46:12,400 --> 00:46:15,200 Speaker 1: and and that's her thing is is you know, she 700 00:46:15,360 --> 00:46:17,600 Speaker 1: was fed up with working with what she was given. 701 00:46:17,600 --> 00:46:20,920 Speaker 1: But by the end of the article, she's like, I 702 00:46:21,000 --> 00:46:23,560 Speaker 1: get it. I get why people just put up with 703 00:46:23,600 --> 00:46:25,799 Speaker 1: the burrito in a bag because you can only do 704 00:46:25,880 --> 00:46:29,600 Speaker 1: so much with the resources that the USDA gives you. Um. 705 00:46:29,719 --> 00:46:32,480 Speaker 1: But speaking of the u s D, A, Cooper had 706 00:46:32,680 --> 00:46:36,279 Speaker 1: nothing nice to say about them because she's totally disgusted 707 00:46:36,640 --> 00:46:40,799 Speaker 1: with the unbalanced portions of meet and dairy versus vegetables 708 00:46:40,800 --> 00:46:44,440 Speaker 1: that the government would send to schools. So schools across 709 00:46:44,480 --> 00:46:47,160 Speaker 1: the country, as this New Yorker piece spells out, get 710 00:46:47,160 --> 00:46:52,560 Speaker 1: about seven hundred million dollars worth of meeting dairy versus 711 00:46:52,760 --> 00:46:56,839 Speaker 1: less than two hundred and fifty million dollars worth of vegetables, 712 00:46:57,040 --> 00:47:01,320 Speaker 1: and and Cooper says that, yeah, well, this is because 713 00:47:01,440 --> 00:47:04,359 Speaker 1: the U. S d A is the quote marketing arm 714 00:47:04,480 --> 00:47:08,759 Speaker 1: for agribusiness. They're just buying up surpluses and sending them 715 00:47:08,760 --> 00:47:12,560 Speaker 1: to schools whatever can fill their pockets and be most 716 00:47:12,600 --> 00:47:16,360 Speaker 1: beneficial to them and their farmers, regardless of what is 717 00:47:16,440 --> 00:47:19,399 Speaker 1: best for the schools. And so yeah, like we were saying, 718 00:47:19,440 --> 00:47:22,400 Speaker 1: by the end of the article, she realizes just how 719 00:47:23,400 --> 00:47:27,000 Speaker 1: that had the lunch ladies and schools have it that 720 00:47:27,040 --> 00:47:28,960 Speaker 1: they're trapped between a rock and horror place when it 721 00:47:29,000 --> 00:47:34,560 Speaker 1: comes to regulations over fat, sugar and calories that this country. 722 00:47:34,880 --> 00:47:36,640 Speaker 1: And I didn't really know. I didn't know this, that 723 00:47:36,680 --> 00:47:41,160 Speaker 1: this country has sort of these broadbrush, across the board 724 00:47:42,400 --> 00:47:45,880 Speaker 1: standards and regulations for for how much fat, sugar and 725 00:47:45,920 --> 00:47:49,160 Speaker 1: calories can be in food. And so you know, you 726 00:47:49,520 --> 00:47:51,759 Speaker 1: go back to remember when we were young and our 727 00:47:51,800 --> 00:47:54,319 Speaker 1: parents were eating snack wells because it was thought that 728 00:47:54,360 --> 00:47:57,719 Speaker 1: fat was the devil, not sugar. Well. A lot of 729 00:47:57,760 --> 00:48:01,000 Speaker 1: that mentality is still happening in our school les, where oh, 730 00:48:01,040 --> 00:48:04,200 Speaker 1: this meal has too much fat but not enough carbs, 731 00:48:04,239 --> 00:48:07,920 Speaker 1: So you get school lunch ladies who are having to 732 00:48:08,000 --> 00:48:11,600 Speaker 1: add chocolate to the milk just to meet the sugar 733 00:48:11,640 --> 00:48:15,479 Speaker 1: standard of the carb standard for that day's lunch, never 734 00:48:15,560 --> 00:48:19,680 Speaker 1: mind the fact that, like, that's not as nutritious as 735 00:48:19,680 --> 00:48:22,240 Speaker 1: if you just focused on the healthy fats, the healthy 736 00:48:22,280 --> 00:48:26,120 Speaker 1: greens of a good lunch. Well. And also mentioned in 737 00:48:26,160 --> 00:48:29,239 Speaker 1: this piece was a contract. I don't know if it 738 00:48:29,280 --> 00:48:33,640 Speaker 1: was a nationwide contract or specific to an urban school 739 00:48:33,680 --> 00:48:38,080 Speaker 1: district or what, but it was with one of either 740 00:48:38,160 --> 00:48:43,560 Speaker 1: like PepsiCo or Coca Cola that agreed to remove everything 741 00:48:43,960 --> 00:48:49,399 Speaker 1: but diet sodas from these schools, and the politician who 742 00:48:49,440 --> 00:48:54,520 Speaker 1: brokered the deal called it brave, Brave. That's that's interesting, 743 00:48:54,920 --> 00:48:57,400 Speaker 1: But I mean, it was also cited in this article 744 00:48:57,480 --> 00:49:00,720 Speaker 1: that once they did remove a lot of those vending 745 00:49:00,760 --> 00:49:06,239 Speaker 1: machine options, you saw the profits from the sale of 746 00:49:06,239 --> 00:49:10,640 Speaker 1: school lunches skyrocket once kids got used to the different food, 747 00:49:11,360 --> 00:49:15,160 Speaker 1: and they were eating more of the healthy stuff and 748 00:49:15,200 --> 00:49:17,120 Speaker 1: not so much the vending machine stuff. Of course, those 749 00:49:17,120 --> 00:49:20,000 Speaker 1: school lunch programs are going to break in more money now. 750 00:49:20,800 --> 00:49:24,640 Speaker 1: As a past home schooler, I don't have a lot 751 00:49:24,719 --> 00:49:29,240 Speaker 1: of knowledge firsthand of school lunches. Were you a school 752 00:49:29,280 --> 00:49:32,480 Speaker 1: lunch kid? No, my mother packed my lunch every day 753 00:49:32,520 --> 00:49:36,120 Speaker 1: with a joke. Oh, I love that. It's always a joke, 754 00:49:36,400 --> 00:49:38,640 Speaker 1: and like my friends would gather around to see what 755 00:49:38,680 --> 00:49:40,919 Speaker 1: the joke of the day was. Yeah, my mother would 756 00:49:40,920 --> 00:49:44,120 Speaker 1: buy joke books to write jokes to me every day. 757 00:49:44,160 --> 00:49:48,640 Speaker 1: I really love that fun fact um. But the days 758 00:49:48,680 --> 00:49:51,200 Speaker 1: that I would leave my lunch in my locker, we're 759 00:49:51,239 --> 00:49:54,479 Speaker 1: always chicken breath days. Chicken chicken thigh days. I guess 760 00:49:54,520 --> 00:49:56,359 Speaker 1: to me as a young person, they looked as big 761 00:49:56,440 --> 00:50:03,200 Speaker 1: as like a chicken breast, but they were these greasy, beautiful, 762 00:50:03,400 --> 00:50:08,400 Speaker 1: glistening yellow chicken thighs with like mashed potatoes and green 763 00:50:08,440 --> 00:50:10,440 Speaker 1: beans that were cooked within an inch of their life. 764 00:50:10,440 --> 00:50:14,320 Speaker 1: And I just loved that greasy chicken. Could care less 765 00:50:14,360 --> 00:50:18,359 Speaker 1: about the pizza, could care less about the jello I was. 766 00:50:18,560 --> 00:50:21,799 Speaker 1: I was there for the chicken thigh though, So I 767 00:50:21,880 --> 00:50:27,360 Speaker 1: went to kindergarten outside of my home, and the one 768 00:50:27,920 --> 00:50:33,279 Speaker 1: school lunch I still so clearly remember was one Friday 769 00:50:33,360 --> 00:50:38,120 Speaker 1: when uh my mom wanted me to wear this dress 770 00:50:38,160 --> 00:50:42,719 Speaker 1: that I hated for some reason, and honestly, like I 771 00:50:42,840 --> 00:50:45,000 Speaker 1: was on a brady child, it really wasn't. But there 772 00:50:45,080 --> 00:50:46,360 Speaker 1: was just this one dress. It was a hang me 773 00:50:46,400 --> 00:50:48,440 Speaker 1: down for one of my sisters, and I just thought 774 00:50:48,920 --> 00:50:53,120 Speaker 1: it was just the worst, and since I'd never worn it, 775 00:50:53,160 --> 00:50:54,759 Speaker 1: my mom was like, you need to you need to 776 00:50:54,760 --> 00:50:58,759 Speaker 1: wear this, and I pitched such a fit that I 777 00:50:58,880 --> 00:51:02,919 Speaker 1: forgot to bring my lunch. I just you know, ran 778 00:51:03,000 --> 00:51:05,400 Speaker 1: out of the van crying, and you know, into school 779 00:51:05,440 --> 00:51:08,560 Speaker 1: and realized I had left my lunch and so I 780 00:51:08,600 --> 00:51:11,840 Speaker 1: had to eat lunch at the school. And boy did 781 00:51:11,920 --> 00:51:14,040 Speaker 1: I turn my frown upside down when I realized it 782 00:51:14,080 --> 00:51:18,399 Speaker 1: was pizza day and everything was right as rain once 783 00:51:18,400 --> 00:51:22,680 Speaker 1: I got my special tray with the you know, rectangular 784 00:51:22,760 --> 00:51:27,960 Speaker 1: piece of cheese and pepperoni pizza with the pepperoni cubes 785 00:51:28,520 --> 00:51:34,319 Speaker 1: and a little side of unsalted corn. I guess with 786 00:51:34,360 --> 00:51:37,000 Speaker 1: the pizza they'd reach their like sodium capacity, I guess, 787 00:51:37,040 --> 00:51:39,640 Speaker 1: so yeah. I just remember the corn being like very 788 00:51:39,680 --> 00:51:42,960 Speaker 1: watery and bland, and as I was eating and I 789 00:51:43,000 --> 00:51:46,839 Speaker 1: was like, oh, maybe my lunches aren't so bad after all, 790 00:51:47,360 --> 00:51:51,160 Speaker 1: But I still hate this dress. I love this pizza. Yeah, 791 00:51:51,280 --> 00:51:52,640 Speaker 1: but I can still yeah. I mean it's just a 792 00:51:52,760 --> 00:51:55,360 Speaker 1: strange like even I can even remember the smell of 793 00:51:55,400 --> 00:52:02,360 Speaker 1: the cafeteria. Yeah, yeah, I can too. Um, what a 794 00:52:02,520 --> 00:52:05,560 Speaker 1: what a gross air freshener that would be? Is this 795 00:52:06,160 --> 00:52:09,480 Speaker 1: is this cafeterias smell? You know, to get that at 796 00:52:09,520 --> 00:52:15,200 Speaker 1: Yankee candle. So sometimes I will be someplace, usually near 797 00:52:15,239 --> 00:52:17,880 Speaker 1: a food service area, and I will get a whiff 798 00:52:17,960 --> 00:52:21,719 Speaker 1: of that elementary school cafeterias smell, and it immediately transports 799 00:52:21,719 --> 00:52:25,000 Speaker 1: me back to the day that one of my classmates 800 00:52:25,080 --> 00:52:27,400 Speaker 1: was trying to get my Reese's peanut buttercups and I 801 00:52:27,480 --> 00:52:32,239 Speaker 1: was like, step off. Um. But you know, into the 802 00:52:32,280 --> 00:52:34,400 Speaker 1: story is that Cooper ended up taking her show on 803 00:52:34,440 --> 00:52:38,880 Speaker 1: the road to uh Colorado's Boulder Valley School District, and 804 00:52:38,960 --> 00:52:44,120 Speaker 1: she's actually launched because she recognizes the importance just as 805 00:52:44,200 --> 00:52:47,440 Speaker 1: Ellen Swallow Richard's did. She recognizes the importance of healthy 806 00:52:47,520 --> 00:52:50,960 Speaker 1: lunches and the ridiculousness of all the like government bureaucracy 807 00:52:51,000 --> 00:52:54,560 Speaker 1: around them. She actually launched the consulting firm Lunch Lessons 808 00:52:54,800 --> 00:52:58,719 Speaker 1: and the nonprofit Food Family Farming Foundation. So good for 809 00:52:58,760 --> 00:53:01,640 Speaker 1: you and Cooper, god speed keep doing what you're doing. Um. 810 00:53:01,640 --> 00:53:06,359 Speaker 1: But there are so many other activist lunch ladies, both 811 00:53:06,400 --> 00:53:11,160 Speaker 1: inside of schools and outside, who are working out there 812 00:53:11,200 --> 00:53:13,640 Speaker 1: to to change things for the better, that deserve their 813 00:53:13,719 --> 00:53:16,479 Speaker 1: do um. Like just this year, we've had a whole 814 00:53:16,520 --> 00:53:21,000 Speaker 1: slew of lunch lady activists. In May, of Walt Disney 815 00:53:21,000 --> 00:53:25,160 Speaker 1: cafeteria workers demanded a union because the thing is, most 816 00:53:25,200 --> 00:53:28,759 Speaker 1: Disney workers do belong to a union, but cafeteria work 817 00:53:28,880 --> 00:53:35,480 Speaker 1: is outsourced. UH. And in June of University of Toronto 818 00:53:35,560 --> 00:53:39,880 Speaker 1: cafeteria workers that's in Canada UH launched a hunger strike 819 00:53:39,960 --> 00:53:43,359 Speaker 1: to protest their contract terms, which would have stripped more 820 00:53:43,360 --> 00:53:46,200 Speaker 1: than two hundred workers of their seniority and put them 821 00:53:46,239 --> 00:53:50,200 Speaker 1: back on their probationary period, even people who have worked 822 00:53:50,200 --> 00:53:53,680 Speaker 1: their their entire careers. And you know who else outsources 823 00:53:53,719 --> 00:53:59,239 Speaker 1: their cafeteria workers is the US Senate, which come on. 824 00:54:00,280 --> 00:54:04,000 Speaker 1: So in July, the Department of Labor found that six 825 00:54:04,400 --> 00:54:07,600 Speaker 1: d seventy four Senate cafeteria workers were owed more than 826 00:54:07,640 --> 00:54:11,799 Speaker 1: a million dollars in back pay because their employer, not 827 00:54:11,920 --> 00:54:17,200 Speaker 1: the US government, but restaurant associates and personnel plus misclassified 828 00:54:17,239 --> 00:54:21,760 Speaker 1: them and illegally underpaid them. And a year earlier, Senate 829 00:54:21,800 --> 00:54:25,160 Speaker 1: cafeteria workers and janitors had walked off a job, joining 830 00:54:25,160 --> 00:54:28,040 Speaker 1: more than a thousand labor activists at a rally demanding 831 00:54:28,080 --> 00:54:32,759 Speaker 1: Congress and President Obama require federal contractors to pay workers more. 832 00:54:32,840 --> 00:54:40,040 Speaker 1: And come on, heck yeah, ah, I have a scolding 833 00:54:40,160 --> 00:54:43,040 Speaker 1: face on right now. But I mean the importance of 834 00:54:43,080 --> 00:54:47,520 Speaker 1: this can't be understated because just like with our janitor episode, 835 00:54:47,560 --> 00:54:50,239 Speaker 1: you know, we we talked about how these people are 836 00:54:50,680 --> 00:54:56,800 Speaker 1: invisible and underappreciated and just I mean treated badly in general, 837 00:54:56,840 --> 00:55:01,560 Speaker 1: but also just literally underpaid and underval you. And so 838 00:55:01,680 --> 00:55:05,120 Speaker 1: to have them stepping up as a unified force to 839 00:55:05,280 --> 00:55:09,520 Speaker 1: just demand being treated like a human is so important 840 00:55:09,719 --> 00:55:14,120 Speaker 1: and and I would love to see more movements like 841 00:55:14,200 --> 00:55:16,400 Speaker 1: we saw in nineteen sixty nine with the women at 842 00:55:16,480 --> 00:55:19,239 Speaker 1: U n C, like the Walt Disney workers, like the 843 00:55:19,280 --> 00:55:23,719 Speaker 1: Senate cafeteria workers as well. And one person who's trying 844 00:55:23,719 --> 00:55:27,440 Speaker 1: to do his part to show some appreciation for lunch 845 00:55:27,520 --> 00:55:32,279 Speaker 1: ladies is this guy, Jarrett Krysosca he actually created the 846 00:55:32,400 --> 00:55:36,880 Speaker 1: Lunch Lady graphic novel series and it's amazing. It basically 847 00:55:37,360 --> 00:55:42,640 Speaker 1: helps encourage kids across this country and beyond to recognize 848 00:55:42,680 --> 00:55:46,160 Speaker 1: the hard work of those underpaid lunch ladies who spend 849 00:55:46,160 --> 00:55:50,960 Speaker 1: their days feeding them. And so the result Krusoska has 850 00:55:51,160 --> 00:55:53,120 Speaker 1: a ted talk where he talks all about this and 851 00:55:53,160 --> 00:55:57,560 Speaker 1: it's very heartwarming. Um but workers have told him time 852 00:55:57,560 --> 00:56:01,160 Speaker 1: and time again that they are own away by the 853 00:56:01,200 --> 00:56:04,200 Speaker 1: appreciation that they see from kids after they've read those 854 00:56:04,239 --> 00:56:08,880 Speaker 1: graphic novels, saying that I don't feel invisible and unimportant anymore. 855 00:56:08,960 --> 00:56:11,759 Speaker 1: These kids are thanking me for my hard work. And 856 00:56:12,880 --> 00:56:14,960 Speaker 1: you know, like, well, why why is that important? Why 857 00:56:14,960 --> 00:56:18,640 Speaker 1: does that matter? Beyond a heartwarming story. It goes back 858 00:56:18,640 --> 00:56:21,120 Speaker 1: to what we were talking about earlier, that students have 859 00:56:21,760 --> 00:56:25,880 Speaker 1: supported so many cafeteria workers and so many of their movements. 860 00:56:27,280 --> 00:56:29,920 Speaker 1: They're sort of they're linked. I mean, here are these women, 861 00:56:30,120 --> 00:56:34,839 Speaker 1: mostly women, who are feeding these kids. We all grow 862 00:56:34,960 --> 00:56:38,320 Speaker 1: up in some capacity in some way with lunch ladies 863 00:56:38,360 --> 00:56:41,919 Speaker 1: to a degree and have exposure to them in some way. 864 00:56:42,320 --> 00:56:47,080 Speaker 1: And so hopefully when these kids who read these graphic 865 00:56:47,120 --> 00:56:51,440 Speaker 1: novels grow up, maybe they will also become activists at 866 00:56:51,480 --> 00:56:57,000 Speaker 1: school who will join ranks with UH, with these lunch ladies, 867 00:56:57,040 --> 00:57:01,120 Speaker 1: with these cafeteria workers, or at the very least recognize 868 00:57:01,160 --> 00:57:04,279 Speaker 1: their humanity and their importance and treat them like people. Yeah, 869 00:57:04,360 --> 00:57:06,360 Speaker 1: fostering respect for them. I mean, that's one of the 870 00:57:06,360 --> 00:57:09,040 Speaker 1: best things that you can role model for a kid, 871 00:57:09,400 --> 00:57:17,520 Speaker 1: is treating these workers with dignity that they deserve. So listeners, now, 872 00:57:17,520 --> 00:57:19,440 Speaker 1: we want to hear from you. Are there any lunch 873 00:57:19,480 --> 00:57:22,720 Speaker 1: ladies listening? We want to know your thoughts, any lunch 874 00:57:22,800 --> 00:57:27,120 Speaker 1: lady memories, You want to share particular food items that 875 00:57:27,160 --> 00:57:30,800 Speaker 1: you still remember from kindergarten, like me. Mom Stuff at 876 00:57:30,800 --> 00:57:33,840 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com is our email address. And 877 00:57:33,880 --> 00:57:38,200 Speaker 1: if also there is a food service worker movement that 878 00:57:38,280 --> 00:57:40,920 Speaker 1: you think that we should shout out that we haven't mentioned, 879 00:57:41,120 --> 00:57:43,439 Speaker 1: please let us know that as well. Again, our email 880 00:57:43,480 --> 00:57:46,640 Speaker 1: addresses mom Stuff at how stuff works dot com. You 881 00:57:46,640 --> 00:57:49,960 Speaker 1: can also tweet us at mom stuff, podcasts or messages 882 00:57:50,040 --> 00:57:52,360 Speaker 1: on Facebook. And we've got a couple of messages to 883 00:57:52,400 --> 00:57:54,720 Speaker 1: share with you when we come right back from a 884 00:57:54,760 --> 00:58:03,120 Speaker 1: quick break. So I have a letter here from Lee, 885 00:58:03,520 --> 00:58:09,600 Speaker 1: subject line Unicorn Gossip. So Lee writes, I love the 886 00:58:09,640 --> 00:58:13,080 Speaker 1: podcast and wanted to share my brushes with the Lisa 887 00:58:13,160 --> 00:58:17,200 Speaker 1: Frank universe. I'm a Tustonian, and it seems everyone here 888 00:58:17,200 --> 00:58:19,440 Speaker 1: has a Lisa Frank story. Oh my gosh, I love 889 00:58:19,640 --> 00:58:22,760 Speaker 1: everything about that sentence. In high school, I had a 890 00:58:22,800 --> 00:58:25,640 Speaker 1: friend who worked at the Lisa Frank Clubhouse, a retail 891 00:58:25,680 --> 00:58:28,320 Speaker 1: store that was located in the Tucson Mall. The store 892 00:58:28,440 --> 00:58:32,400 Speaker 1: was very trapper keeper trippy. The workers there were required 893 00:58:32,440 --> 00:58:35,320 Speaker 1: to know all the characters names and personality traits. I 894 00:58:35,320 --> 00:58:37,800 Speaker 1: believe the unicorn's name is Marky, and yes, you are 895 00:58:37,840 --> 00:58:41,000 Speaker 1: corrected as markis. My friend told me that they were 896 00:58:41,040 --> 00:58:44,280 Speaker 1: expected to recognize Lisa, her kids, and the company higher 897 00:58:44,360 --> 00:58:46,760 Speaker 1: ups should they ever come to the store, which they didn't. 898 00:58:47,200 --> 00:58:49,120 Speaker 1: We hung out of the store a lot because there 899 00:58:49,160 --> 00:58:53,240 Speaker 1: were rarely customers. Not surprisingly, my friends stopped working there 900 00:58:53,360 --> 00:58:56,880 Speaker 1: Right before the Clubhouse shut down. Around two thousand and eight, 901 00:58:57,120 --> 00:58:59,439 Speaker 1: I was bored with my hr job and was looking 902 00:58:59,480 --> 00:59:02,920 Speaker 1: for something creative. I stumbled across an ad on Craig's 903 00:59:02,920 --> 00:59:05,200 Speaker 1: List that said a large local company was looking for 904 00:59:05,280 --> 00:59:08,440 Speaker 1: writers great backstories for a new line of kids characters. 905 00:59:08,920 --> 00:59:10,760 Speaker 1: I answered the ad and was surprised to get an 906 00:59:10,760 --> 00:59:14,040 Speaker 1: email back from someone at Lisa Frank. They replied with 907 00:59:14,040 --> 00:59:16,640 Speaker 1: an application, a form to fill out for a credit check, 908 00:59:16,880 --> 00:59:20,200 Speaker 1: and an assignment to create five characters what they looked 909 00:59:20,200 --> 00:59:24,640 Speaker 1: like hobbies, fears, family strengths, etcetera. I sent back the application, 910 00:59:24,720 --> 00:59:27,960 Speaker 1: but not the credit check or assignment. Being in human resources, 911 00:59:28,000 --> 00:59:30,000 Speaker 1: I thought it was strange that they wanted a credit 912 00:59:30,080 --> 00:59:33,720 Speaker 1: report for a potential contractor before even interviewing the person. 913 00:59:34,240 --> 00:59:36,040 Speaker 1: I wanted to know what the pay rate was, and 914 00:59:36,120 --> 00:59:38,800 Speaker 1: also asking questions about the assignment they wanted all the 915 00:59:38,840 --> 00:59:42,160 Speaker 1: applicants to do for free. The person who replied said 916 00:59:42,200 --> 00:59:44,720 Speaker 1: that they couldn't give me any information until I did 917 00:59:44,720 --> 00:59:48,520 Speaker 1: the credit check and completed the assignment. I called Lisa 918 00:59:48,520 --> 00:59:51,200 Speaker 1: Frank headquarters to speak to the HR person, but the 919 00:59:51,280 --> 00:59:54,720 Speaker 1: number they had listed was just a voicemail bank. I 920 00:59:54,800 --> 00:59:58,240 Speaker 1: decided not to pursue the quote unquote opportunity, as the 921 00:59:58,280 --> 01:00:01,920 Speaker 1: whole thing felt very fish. Later, there were a handful 922 01:00:02,000 --> 01:00:06,000 Speaker 1: of rants on Craigslist about Lisa Frank scamming for free work. 923 01:00:06,480 --> 01:00:12,280 Speaker 1: Oh that is such a good unicorn gossip. Thanks for sharing, Lee. Alright, 924 01:00:12,320 --> 01:00:15,439 Speaker 1: I have one here from Jen in response to our 925 01:00:15,680 --> 01:00:19,160 Speaker 1: Lady Boxers episode. Um she says, I love your Fighting 926 01:00:19,200 --> 01:00:22,520 Speaker 1: for Women's Olympic Boxing episode. I was so excited to 927 01:00:22,520 --> 01:00:25,120 Speaker 1: see it in the lineup. In July, I went to 928 01:00:25,120 --> 01:00:28,240 Speaker 1: Toronto Pride for the first time, specifically the Dike March, 929 01:00:28,320 --> 01:00:32,520 Speaker 1: and ended up marching immediately behind the Toronto News Girls 930 01:00:32,600 --> 01:00:35,840 Speaker 1: Boxing Club. Okay, first of all, side note, that's an 931 01:00:35,840 --> 01:00:39,720 Speaker 1: amazing name. I need a like box Car Children or 932 01:00:39,760 --> 01:00:43,200 Speaker 1: Babysitters Club style series of books based on the Toronto 933 01:00:43,240 --> 01:00:45,880 Speaker 1: News Girls boxing team because I just imagine them dressed 934 01:00:45,880 --> 01:00:51,120 Speaker 1: as newsies fighting and I'm in love now. Anyway, Jen 935 01:00:51,200 --> 01:00:54,320 Speaker 1: goes on. They had four women holding the corners of 936 01:00:54,360 --> 01:00:57,200 Speaker 1: the quote unquote ring and the boxers rotated in and 937 01:00:57,240 --> 01:00:59,959 Speaker 1: out of the ring, all while moving along the parade route. 938 01:01:00,240 --> 01:01:02,120 Speaker 1: It was pretty cool to see, and while I may 939 01:01:02,200 --> 01:01:05,320 Speaker 1: never actively follow boxing of any kind, I do have 940 01:01:05,480 --> 01:01:08,240 Speaker 1: far more appreciation for it. Thanks to you and those 941 01:01:08,280 --> 01:01:12,240 Speaker 1: awesome athletes. Thanks for continuing to broaden my interests well, 942 01:01:12,280 --> 01:01:15,840 Speaker 1: thank you for writing in, and thanks to everybody who's 943 01:01:15,840 --> 01:01:18,680 Speaker 1: written into us. Mom Stuff at how stuff works dot 944 01:01:18,680 --> 01:01:20,960 Speaker 1: Com is our email address and for links to all 945 01:01:20,960 --> 01:01:23,240 Speaker 1: of our social media as well as all of our blogs, 946 01:01:23,320 --> 01:01:26,960 Speaker 1: videos and podcasts. With our sources so you can learn 947 01:01:27,040 --> 01:01:30,160 Speaker 1: even more about lunch ladies. Head on over to stuff 948 01:01:30,320 --> 01:01:37,000 Speaker 1: Mom Never told You dot com for more on this 949 01:01:37,200 --> 01:01:39,680 Speaker 1: and thousands of other topics. Is it how stuff Works 950 01:01:39,680 --> 01:01:47,800 Speaker 1: dot com