Charter choices: good food, free food, no food
Some campuses say they lack the means to provide nutritious meals — or any meals.
At Larchmont Charter School in Los Angeles, a former restaurant chef whips up pasta with fresh vegetable sauce for lunch one day; on another he offers a salad bar with figs grown on campus.
But 500 miles north, in tiny Red Bluff, lunchtime at Sacramento River Discovery Charter School is decidedly different: Students must either bring their own lunches or place orders with parent volunteers who make a daily run to Taco Bell, Burger King or Subway.
Cafeteria food at traditional public schools has long had a bad reputation, but at least children can count on a meal that's