ROCHESTER, N.Y. – While the summer is a respite for students from the books and the teacher’s dirty looks, for others, there’s no getting away from paltry school lunches.

Parents are complaining about the skimpy portions and questionable nutritional value.

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Mary Lupien didn’t pack a usual brown bag lunch Monday when her daughter went to summer school.

“I thought, ‘Oh well, one day isn’t going to hurt her,'” the organic gardener tells WHAM.

She says her daughter’s meal consisted of Froot Loops cereal, animal crackers, chocolate milk and grape juice.

“A big thumbs down for that one,” she says. “Every single thing in that free breakfast was full of sugar.”

Meanwhile, a student snapped a photo of her lunch at the School of the Arts, which appears to contain a peach, a single bread stick and a carton of milk.

Rochester schools superintendent Bolgen Vargas attempted to explain the lunch when he viewed a photo.

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“In different cultures or norms, that might be considered to be a healthy meal,” he tells the news station. “That family’s standard may be totally different. The fact is the number of families that are pleased with this program is unbelievable.”

The quality of meals can vary, most likely depending on who is producing them. Vargas thinks it’s “unfair” to compare the school’s meal program to that of a non-profit church group also serving meals during the summer.

411 Ministries served a lunch consisting of a sandwich, tomato and cucumber salad and a side of pineapple chunks.

“I had to get used to it a little bit,” 10-year-old Yaneika David says of the healthier fare served at the rec center. “It felt awkward because I didn’t eat vegetables every day, but it feels comfortable now.”

Superintendent Vargas stood by the lunch the school served.

“I invite you to come in any parent who wants one,” he says. “We follow state and federal standards. We hear from many families who are happy.”

He didn’t indicate what culture he believes considers what is captured in the photo to be a “healthy meal.”