Woodbridge Sticks With Chartwells Despite Rotten Food Complaints

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — Food provider Chartwells was called to the floor at the Thursday night Board of Education meeting, to explain why the grab 'n go food they've been serving Woodbridge schoolchildren has been rotten, frozen and inedible.

Board president Marie Anderson started off by angrily speaking to the Chartwells representative, saying the food given to Woodbridge schoolkids is "disgusting."

"When I heard the stories and I saw the photographs of the food served, I was upset, disappointed and shocked to see such deplorable and disgusting food options for our students," she said, her voice rising with emotion. "Lack of nutritional food in our schools is a public health crisis. It is unacceptable. And whoever violates this will be held accountable."

"It's unfortunate you missed the mark. Your service was below standards. There is no room for error," she said.

However, Chartwells will still be the food provider for Woodbridge public schools. The board did not end their contract Thursday night — to the anger of many parents present at the meeting.

"We want them gone from our district. Gone," said one mom. "All I'm hearing is excuses. We should not have to worry about our child coming home ill from the food they are fed. We are not going to be happy until we have a new food provider."

As Patch reported last Friday — and Woodbridge parents have been saying since the school year began Sept. 2 — children have been served food that is sometimes green colored and frozen. On this petition, parents reported mushy raw carrots, brown celery sticks and turkey sandwiches and oranges entirely frozen solid. Children even received cartons of milk that were past their expiration date, with the milk solidifying in the container. At least one child became ill from the food, throwing up and having diarrhea, said his mother.

Other kids came home starving, because they either could not eat the food or were not given enough food. One woman said her child was given "a mozzarella cheese stick and pretzels for lunch. That's it. A cheese stick and pretzels." Another mom said lunch one day was "Goldfish and a muffin."

A Woodbridge High School sophomore even spoke Thursday night. "From the first day of school I received a frozen turkey and cheese sandwich ... I have peers and friends who are still receiving this lunch daily. For example, today's lunch was about five carrots with a small container of tuna. I simply cannot believe it. I know that would not fill me up for the rest of the school day."

The Chartwells spokeswoman sat at a table in front of the entire Board. She started off by saying the manager in charge of Woodbridge schools' food delivery has been "reassigned." She also said while her company has been serving Woodbridge schools for several years, there have been some "challenges" as the school year began this year:

Before the school year began, "It was decided that cold food was the best way to serve our students for in-classroom meals"to reduce the risk of COVID.

However, once students started saying the grab 'n go food was frozen/moldy, Chartwells will return to more hot lunch offerings and reopen the cafeteria, she said. She also said within 48 hours of getting the complaints, Chartwells started preparing freshly-made sandwiches, made inside Woodbridge school buildings, instead of the pre-packaged sandwiches provided by an unnamed vendor.

"Our partner ... that was obviously stopped the second day. We are making sandwiches on site," she said.

She also said "10,000 meals a day, that's a large number of meals," referring to the size of the Woodbridge school district, the eighth largest in the state.

To which a board member replied, "That's your job."

Chartwells is a major school lunch provider across New Jersey and the nation. The Woodbridge school district has renewed their contract twice.

Chartwells currently has the contract to provide school breakfast/lunches for 107 school districts in New Jersey. But this isn't the first time there have been serious complaints about their food: In 2014, the food Chartwells served in a Connecticut school district was reported to have mold, human hair, dangerously undercooked meats and even insects, according to this Washington Post report.

"Let's take the spoiled milk," said another WPS Board member. "I could see one school, an isolated incident. But multiple schools? There was a major breakdown. This should been caught way before it got to the schools.

"I'm concerned these problems are not gonna to be corrected," he added. "It is a crisis and it's gotta get fixed. Does Chartwells have a plan where our kids are going to get good, edible food and non-expired milk?"

The Chartwells rep said her company was unaware the milk was expired, and never would have served it had it known.

She also said "everyone" in the food industry is experiencing supply chain issues right now, and has had to modify menus. There is a national trucker shortage that is affecting the food industry, and all industries, nationwide.

"We are deeply sorry and we know there were meals that did not meet our standards," she said.

Chartwells is also retraining its employees on food quality and food safety, she said.

It's important to know there have been two big changes to school lunch this year: Most New Jersey schools are no longer serving hot lunches. Lunches have been changed to be "grab and go," pre-packaged food that children can eat individually, by themselves, to reduce the risk of spreading coronavirus. Also, all breakfasts and lunches are now free, for all kids.

Board president Anderson pointed out that for some children, these free breakfast and lunches may be the most substantial meal they get all day.

Initial Patch report: Woodbridge Schools Investigate 'Moldy, Rotten' Kids' Lunch Issues (Sept. 17)

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