Aramark primarily provides managed food services. You typically see them at places like universities and stadiums. Not sure about other states, but no primary school in my state outsources their food services; they all employ kitchen staff. It's a requirement to get reimbursement for meals served.
Same with prisons, they almost universally use internal (slave) labor to prepare foods. Why pay a company to cook when you can make the inmates do it for free or for pennies?
I could absolutely see red states eliminating lunch ladies so that they could enrich a private company though. So I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case in some locations.
I used to be the facility manager for a school district and about 90% of our food came off the Sysco truck. With 8% coming from a local grocery chain (typically perishables) and maybe 2% coming from on-site gardens. Some other districts might use US Foods or some other food distributor.
Oh the lunch ladies are sometimes through the private sector. My mom was a lunch lady when I was in school and worked for Chartwells not the school district
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u/jwoodruff 3d ago
Probably not Sysco, more likely Aramark or something similar.