my grandmother was a school lunch cook back in the 70s when I was in school
the food wasn't always great tasting or enough to fill up a high school boy, but it wasn't horrible. Some days better than others. Most of the time better than a sammich and some chips in a lunch box from home
10 years ago when my daughters were in school there were mandates on nutrition that were met each meal.
maybe Iowa just does a better job than some states.
we didn't have options to purchase other food. You went through the line and got what was offered that day. It wasn't expensive for the majority that paid full price, it was even better for families that were deemed low income and got a reduced rate, maybe even free
I don't hear any complaints here about school lunches, but I've never heard that nacho cheese on a pretzel was the "protein" for the meal.