Hi guys, (yes, I'm back, long time, no see).
This bugs me on a lot of levels. I can only speak for what I see in my local school districts, but they seem to have this worked out better than the one in the articles.
First, even though we are among the most economically depressed districts in the state, every child is provided school lunch. Every child has access to breakfast and lunch, and must have a waiver signed by the parent in order to bring their own. It lessens the gap between social classes, and supposedly reduces bullying. That, combined with the uniform policy seems to be doing a pretty good job of keeping tensions to a minimum. If we can afford it, most any district could afford it.
Also, to take food and throw it away in front of all the students is not only pretty repugnant from a moral standpoint, it makes no business sense and it is setting a horrible example for the entire school. I hope the idiot that thought this was a good idea is promptly fired or reassigned to permanent janitorial duty.
EDIT: Not to mention, at least in my area, the parents that can't be bothered to fill out the paperwork for the lunch program would be neither shamed or concerned that their kids weren't getting lunch. Too many drugs or too much mental illness to care.