Blue Nugget?

So I'm catching up on my news this morning, and what grabs my eye on The Hoboken Reporter website: a disgusting blue-spotted chicken nugget. Yuck.

The grossly speckled nugget is being offered for our collective disapproval in the hand of a concerned parent, Peta Moran, who photographs her child's school lunches daily for her blog , "EAT HOBOKEN- A School Lunch Blog". Her concept is terrific; informing parents about what schools are stuffing into our little ones, while letting administrators and the district's lunch vendor, Chartwell's, know they're being watched. And she lets her photos tell the story... which they do. Or do they?

Back to the blue nugget.

Outrageous, right? If our schools can serve our kiddies blue nuggets today, what's next- a whole blue chicken? With blue peas and carrots and a blue salad topped off with a blue glass of milk?

Well, as I examined the picture, I noticed something strange. Do you see it?

photograph from The Hoboken Reporter

Hint: the last time I saw a hand that blue was on an episode of Forensic Files; the corpse was post rigor-mortis and decomposition had set in. And look at the background: it's similarly tinted.

So I dropped it into photoshop for a bit of color correction; here's what I got:


OK, this nugget at 10x magnification has 3 darkish spots... I suppose we could dispatch a forensics team to determine what they are, but they look a lot less sinister without the blue glow, no?

So I went to Peta's blog, where I found this pic; an unappetizing green sandwich with a greenish slice of mystery meat. Ew.

photograph from Peta's blog

How could our children be served something so... green? I'll bet it glows in the dark. But wait... the brown wood-grain pattern laminate table top also looks... green. Hmmm... green sandwich, green table.

So, again, popped that one into photoshop:

Now, the table top is back to brown, and the sandwich... no longer an otherworldly chartreuse.

So, here is my message for Peta: I applaud what you're doing, but if you want your pictures to tell the story then they must do so fairly and accurately.

I am not suggesting any 'funny business'; pics may photograph tinted depending upon lighting, surrounding colors and surfaces, reflected light, for many reasons. But understand the impact of blue nuggets and green sandwiches is very alarming for parents, and may be misrepresentative of the quality and freshness of the actual food being served, and unfair to the lunch vendor if they are providing fresh and healthy food.

So, I would urge due diligence on the publication of future photos, to make sure colors are true-to-life as a service to the many parents who may rely on you to 'tell the story' of their child's school lunch.

And for The Hoboken Reporter, weren't you wondering about the blue fingers?