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Teens tweet gross lunches, say #thanksmichelleobama

Laura Mandaro
USA TODAY Network
First lady Michelle Obama walks down the school lunch line with schoolchildren in the cafeteria at Parklawn Elementary School in Alexandria, Va., on Jan. 25, 2012.

Mystery mush entrees, mystery mush desserts and a solitary roll next to a mound of canned corn — teens are tweeting photos of these unappetizing school lunches under the hashtag #thanksmichelleobama.

The first lady is getting the blame for the how-gross-can-you-get trays of institutional food because of her advocacy of more whole grains, fruits and vegetables in public school lunch programs. Healthier school lunches are part of her "Let's Move" campaign to lower America's obesity and diabetes rates by cutting down on sodium, fat and simple sugars.

That effort, which has had its moments of fame (see: Michelle Obama dances with a turnip) has also been fiercely resisted by some school lunch program administrators, who say it's costly and forces schools to sell food students don't want to eat.

Some of the students tweeting seemed to make that link, remarking that the food on offer had gone down in quality over four years, and so, you know, #thanksmichelleobama.

It was unclear whether any or all of the euw-inducing entrees — say the greasy bunless hot dog next to a squirt of ketchup — resulted from a school program trying to achieve new healthy-eating standards.

Backlash to the hashtag was swift. Political strategist Christine Pelosi, daughter of California congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, said criticism should be directed to the district officials directly responsible for deciding how food is prepared. Some school districts tweeted enviable pictures of fresh fruit, vegetables and entrees. And others bemoaned the myopia of the U.S. teenager, who complains over subsidized lunches using a pricey smartphone.

And just how big a trend was it? A lot of media outlets wrote about it, after a few tweets — like those from Wisconsin teen @huntwhitney4 — were picked up by handles with big followings.

By mid-Saturday, more tweets under the hashtag seemed to come from media outlets than bonafide teenagers. In all, about 28,000 tweets surfaced under the #thanksmichelleobama hashtag in a one-week period.

Maybe #bringbacktatertots would have more success.

And in response:

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