From the description of the bananas in the story it seems that the food service is serving unripened fruit .
If they gave me an unripened banana,I would also throw it away.They’re flavorless.They may as well feed those kids cardboard.
Most of the fruit I see served in NYC Bored of Ed schools is third-rate. Undersized, scarred, etc. The bananas may not be ripe, I haven’t seen them up close, but they ARE smaller than any I see in my local supermarkets. Someone’s brother-in-law in the fruit biz is making a mint.