Social media becomes battleground over school lunches

NEW YORK — Students' photos of grotesque mystery meats and mush served up as school lunches are making waves on Twitter thanks to their shared hashtag: #ThanksMichelleObama.

The sarcastic teenage rebellion of the First Lady's push for healthier, balanced school meals led to a collection of unsavory-looking meals including a questionable pouring of "Spanish rice" and a gooey round scoop of "baked beans."

Many other food items and dishes appeared almost entirely unidentifiable.

"You couldn't feel the individual grains of rice. It was just a solid mush," 17-year-old Hunter Whitney, who shared his freckled portion of "mystery mush" rice on Twitter, told the Associated Press.

The senior at Richland Center High School in Richland Center, Wisc. said his school lunches have gone downhill over his four years in high school.

Halana Turner, a junior at Fraser High School in Fraser, Mich. also said that she used to like the meals at her school.

She posted a photo of a mushy breakfast sandwich Friday morning.

"I don't blame my school for this because I know that they're just following the rules," she told the AP.

Many proud high school graduates, who consider foul school meals to be nothing new, have since shot back with equal amounts of sarcasm.

In one photo tweeted of a fancy grilled fish and vegetable dish, paired with a white wine, Dominic Ferrara tweeted:

"Ugh, remember when school lunches looked like this? #ThanksMichelleObama."

Diane N. Sevenay also tweeted a photo of a gargantuan bacon-wrapped crustacean appearing to support a roasted turkey stuffed with tentacles.

"#ThanksMichelleObama for these new healthy & delicious school lunches!" she captioned it.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington advocacy group that has lobbied for the healthier lunches, also tried to join the hashtag's hype.

Their photo showing a smiling boy holding an