Schools Are Saying No Thanks To The School Lunch Program

709 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Causes and effects of junk food

Health problems for children in America are already bad enough, and they are getting worse (almost tripled obesity in children since the 70’s), but these problems aren’t mainly caused by the schools providing junk food as options to eat at lunch. The school should still be able to provide junk food for the students to eat at lunch.Yes the food may cause health problems, but removing the junk food could also cause other problems. Like how the students may not want to eat the healthier food which would cause more problems to the students and their parents, that the school may not provide what the kids need to eat at lunch, and that the school could lose money if it switches to the healthier food. First of all, the children may not be willing to eat the healthier food that is supplied versus the other alternatives. This is because of the eating habits that are already set in place. In the Article “Why Some Schools Are Saying ‘No Thanks’ to The School Lunch Program, it says that “Of course, the entire program is predicated on the fact that children will welcome — and eat — the healthier options. As TIME has reported, schools with the greatest success in making their cafeterias healthier started early and …show more content…

For example, the Voorheesville Central School District near Albany, N.Y, which in the article in the TIME magazine, “Why Some Schools Are Saying ‘No Thanks’ to the School Lunch Program” by Alexandra Sifferlin says that “...the district lost $30,000 in revenue during the first quarter of the year because of the program, since students either brought lunch from home or went without, instead of purchasing the healthier options offered in the cafeteria.” This quote clearly tells that the school that switched to the healthy options and lost a lot of money in the first quarter. The school lost money because the kids weren’t buying the healthier food options, and instead chose to go

Show More
Related

  • Children's Eating Habits In France Vs. United States

    1347 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the United States the daily public school lunch consists of pizza, cheese burgers, Chef Boyardee ravioli, fried chicken fingers, French fries and it gets worse. Most American students hate the lunch that their school provides, which means as soon as they are able to drive, they leave school and go to the nearest fast food restaurant. "Critics say that school lunches contribute to the fattening of the United States." (5) The most controversial argument about US school lunches happened when "David Stockman, Reagan's budget director, proposed classifying ketchup as a vegetable to meet dietary requirements while also slashing costs." (5) Honestly, what's next? American school lunches have to meet the recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines, which obviously is not good enough considering "30% of individuals calories come from fat, and 10% from saturated fat." (5)

    Read More

  • Government Run School Lunches Essay

    1448 Words  | 3 Pages

    We all remember that day when President Obama took office, and our school lunches changed forever. First Lady Michelle Obama, felt that too many American kids are overweight, so she thought she needed to make our school lunches healthier, with more fruits and vegetables. One of the major changes she made was how many calories the school cooks were able to give the kids. The new requirements are as follows: up to 650 for children in kindergarten through fifth grade, 700 for sixth through eighth graders and 850 for high scholars. These numbers are consistent with the Mayo Clinic’s recommendations ( Kuczynski-Brown). The main goal of cutting calories and taking away junk food, was to insure that kids are getting served a healthy lunch. At each lunch, schools must still provide a cup of fruit, a cup of vegetables, two servings of grains, two ounces of dairy, and a cup of fluid milk, so that students can get their needed vitamins and nutrients (Anonymous) . They are also wanting more local farmers to be involved, and give more of the food they grow to the school. At the high school I went to, we built a green house, and planted a garden to give us some local grown food. It was part of our Ag Science class. More and more schools are starting to do the same thing. The stats of overweight kids is really high. The guidelines are as follows:

    Read More

  • School Lunches Are Unhealthy

    997 Words  | 2 Pages

    Schools are meant to give our children a healthy and nurturing environment, and yet so much of the lunches in schools are fattening; does this stop schools from achieving the aforementioned goal? Childhood obesity in the United Sates continues to be a growing problem despite so any new programs to help combat it, and new research is showing how schools may be playing a large role in childhood obesity. School lunches are showing to be the problem, they encourage poor nutrition in our nation’s students, and simple reform is proving to not be enough to stop the rise in obesity rates.

    Read More

  • The Unhealthy School Lunches

    754 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to the Journal of Law and Health schools that have not banned junk food have had an increase in students more excited to learn because of the sugar count unhealthy foods. Looking at the evidence regarding school lunches from the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture), students need equal grain and protein proportions to have a healthy daily diet, and over the course of 5 years schools that don't have a healthy lunch program have had their students overall GPA almost completely equivalent to the schools that have had the healthy lunch program. Although having tremendously unhealthy school lunches may not harm your GPA it can immensely harm your health. Lots of average students health are in danger just because of unhealthy school lunches, it is very necessary that schools realize that a healthy lunch program is always a beneficial option. Scientists have found that children who have healthier breakfast and lunch get better grades and have increased brain power. Some evidence points to unhealthy food but healthy food is always the answer in an effective school community. Sometimes unhealthy food is cheaper and tastes better but it can be very costly to your health especially as a

    Read More

  • Obesity in Texas Children

    1141 Words  | 3 Pages

    Allowing healthier school lunches will decrease obesity in children because it will give them the proper nutrition to reduce the risk of health issues. Since obesity causes many health issues, maintaining a proper nutrition will reduce the risk of health issues. According to Star- Telegram, a daily newspaper that serves Fort Worth and areas of North Texas states, “[School lunches that have] a meal of pizza sticks, a banana, raisins and whole milk has given way to whole wheat spaghetti with meat sauce, a whole wheat roll green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, kiwi and low-fat milk … This change will help more than 2.4 million Texas students who receive a free or reduced- price school lunch to lead healthier, more active lives—in and out of the classroom”(Par. 2 and 4). School lunches are supposed to guarantee students a well balance meal, so they can have the energy to proceed with their classes throughout the day. Meanwhile, students who receive a f...

    Read More

  • The School Lunch Program

    1365 Words  | 3 Pages

    Fruits and vegetables are now considered two separate groups, with increased servings. Since Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act went into effect School districts have been struggled to executing the program, the backlash from students was almost immediate children began throwing away most of their lunch.”The School Nutrition Association said that 70 percent of school meal programs had taken a significant financial hit since the new mandates went into effect. Cafeteria operators from Los Angeles to New York report discouraging amounts of food waste and declining

    Read More

  • School Lunch Reform : Is It Really A Change For The Better?

    1425 Words  | 3 Pages

    Cafeterias nationwide are a main staple to providing children and teens everywhere millions of meals each year; it is important that what they are serving is nutritious, as well as food that students enjoy eating. Ensuring that a cafeteria runs smoothly is no small feat, especially with more government regulation than ever before. Budget constraints, lack of choices, and the amount of regulations make it difficult for schools to follow guidelines since Michelle Obama’s Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act went into effect in 2010.

    Read More

  • Let's Really Reform Our Schools By Anita Garland

    1126 Words  | 3 Pages

    Having different food can affect a child health. There are milky ways, cake, cookies, pizza and lets just add some French fries in there and call that lunch. Don’t forget the drink sweet tea, pop and milk that one doesn’t choose to drink it. The students would go back to the class rooms after twenty minutes and be hungry at the end of the da. Garland said, “Instead, we allow school cafeterias to dispense the same junk food that kids could buy in any mall” (621). There has been so much junk food and soft drinks in schools that makes the student health unsafe and a distraction to their education. Garland mentioned that the students are filling up with fat, salt and sugar rather than filling up with fruit, whole grains and vegetables. Schools should be about healthiness, and well balanced diets. With having Students eat healthy can boost up their energy and ability to learn. With that being said when I was in high school it was nothing but junk food for three years. When Michele Obama changed the law on the school lunches my senior lunches have changed. It was nothing but healthy food like whole grain, no sweets, two scoops of fruits and vegetables. At Odessa they had a school store loaded with junk food that would be sold out by forth period. When the law came to the school there was nothing but baked chip and replaced with other baked nutrition food or we had nothing at all. The drink machines were changed out

    Read More

  • Healthier Lunch Menu

    495 Words  | 1 Pages

    The school cafeteria changing to a new, healthier lunch menu would be an excellent idea because students would be able to focus more and eat healthier. In the state of Virginia, there are a lot of overweight children and if the school changes their lunch menu, that could change. Some students have a hard time focusing in class because of the types of foods they are putting in their systems. If the school cafeteria changes to a more healthier menu then students would be able to focus more.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On School Lunches

    1760 Words  | 4 Pages

    Lunch is one of the most important meals of the day and is consumed mostly in school cafeterias for children and adolescence. Wholesome lunches are vital in maintaining a healthy metabolism and give children energy for the rest of the school day. Children are advised to eat healthily but do not always do so because the choices of tastier, fatty foods offered in school cafeterias. The National School Lunch Program, NSLP, which is a federally assisted meal program operating in public and nonprofit private schools set nutritious guidelines for lunches served in school cafeterias (USDA). However, school campuses still offer foods high in fat as well as selling candy, chips, and soda in their vending machines, as well as their school shops. In order

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On School Lunch Programs

    1163 Words  | 3 Pages

    With the implementation of the “Healthy Kids Hunger-Free Act” schools are not serving as many lunches and participation is decreasing. According to the Government Accountability Office (GOA), “Nationwide, student participation declined by 1.2 million students(or 3.7 percent) from school year 2010-2011 through school year 2012-2013, after having increased steadily for many years”(sec. 1). The school lunches became more distasteful and bland; the combinations of foods did not make sense, and the portion sizes decreased significantly. In order to support the cafeteria

    Read More

  • School Lunch Research Paper

    590 Words  | 2 Pages

    In other words, the food is not delicious and there are not many choices. Also, when children don’t get proper nutrition, they have trouble focusing on school. Most students do not buy lunch because they feel it is unappealing and do not like the food served. Many students go to other kids and ask for food. In addition, many students do not eat breakfast, so they rely on lunch to fuel them for the day.

    Read More

  • Junk Food

    1307 Words  | 3 Pages

    Although there is a risk of upsetting people who are not worried about the health and wellbeing of today’s youth with selfish reasoning for wanting to keep junk food, ridding schools of junk foods will prove itself to be very beneficial. Children can choose healthier options without being ridiculed by others, wondering if what they are eating is good for them, and/or worrying about negative effects. One’s health cannot be overlooked as it is the livelihood of that person and much more. It is not a subject that can be taken lightly. Action to change the current conditions of America’s population’s

    Read More

  • School Cafeteria Food

    696 Words  | 2 Pages

    Why is this a problem? Cafeteria food is often cheap, bought in bulk, high in calories, malnutritious, and microwaved. Student polls and opinions prove this. Therefore, this leads to a suggestion: Healthier, tastier foods and a better, more advanced lunch system should be implemented. First of all, students aren’t motivated to eat unhealthy, not-tasty food.

    Read More

  • Banning Junk Food in Schools

    701 Words  | 2 Pages

    (Dame Suzi Leather, the Daily Mail 1, page 2). Schools have a responsibility to provide healthy food choices and not just the cheapest ones (which usually happens to be the unhealthy kind). The majority of schools have contracts with unhealthy food suppliers. Most of the budget usually goes to funding sports. What the school boards do not realize is that eating healthy is a crucial part of staying fit, and if the school districts were to pick healthier food suppliers they would see that local food suppliers would gladly provide them with these choices, as it is good business for them.

    Read More

More about Schools Are Saying No Thanks To The School Lunch Program

Open Document