$40. That's how much one Milwaukee student says she spends each week on snacks instead of eating the food in her public school cafeteria. For decades, school nutrition leaders in Milwaukee resisted what many other programs around the country were doing: transitioning away from scratch-cooked meals to serve more processed, pre-packaged food. They ultimately switched to save money. Reporter Jessica Terrell digs into the proliferation of processed foods on school menus to better understand why the same foods show up across the country. 

This episode includes an annotated transcript with links to sources used in the reporting. This podcast was created by editors at The Counter and produced by LWC Studios. It is made possible by grants from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The Counter's 6-year archive of award-winning food journalism remains accessible to the public at thecounter.org.