Drawing on the principles of the “Basic 7,” the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) mandated that participating schools offer meals with at least one third of each child’s recommended daily allowances. While the USDA provided ingredients and recipes, ultimately school cafeteria staff determined what was on the menu, doing their best to feed students despite limited resources, equipment, and space. Many schools, particularly those in urban areas, lacked the space for an industrial kitchen. Little funding was available to construct or equip new cafeterias, so those cafeterias borrowed production techniques from fast-food chains, increasingly offering low-cost, easy to prepare, frozen, and processed foods.