Blue Island High Schooler's Instagram Account Chronicles Cafeteria's 'Prison Food'
Chicago (CBS) -- The school lunchroom is never considered a five-star restaurant by any means, but when one Blue Island high schooler started posting what was being served in her school, it made stomachs turn.
Eisenhower High School junior Amber Christensen did not think her cafeteria's food selection was appetizing at all.
"The hamburgers just looked like straight up raw meat," she said. "You just kept seeing rotten apples and oranges."
Amber says it all came to a breaking point for her on a fateful day in December.
"We had some type of meat loaf, Salisbury steak, I don't really know what it was," she said. "I got sick off of it and went to the school nurse. There were other kids in the nurse's office that were sick from it too."
Mandy Silva, Amber's mom, said her daughter became violently ill.
"She was laying in bed and constantly getting up and throwing up. It was terrible," Silva said.
Silva wasn't just worried about her daughter but all the kids. Three out of four students at the Blue Island school qualify for free or reduced lunch.
"They depend on it, so it's really heartbreaking," Silva said.
Silva and her daughter complained, but the school said the lunch program follows their guidelines and they couldn't do anything about it.
Amber took to social media and started an Instagram page, called "ikeprisonfood".
The page is dedicated to documenting what Eisenhower students are being served on a daily basis. Its latest post is a dead bug found on a deli sandwich last week.
Silva called the photos on her daughter's Instagram "appalling".
District 218 superintendent Ty Harding said he's aware of the social media account. In a statement, Harding said, "The cafeteria team and the school administration met with students and took action based on their feedback.
Those actions include additional inspections and higher training standards for cafeteria workers.
Amber says improvements are happening already.
"It's edible now," she said.
Amber said she plans to keep the Instagram account up until it's clear the improvements are here to stay.
