New School Nutrition: A Dictatorship

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Recommended: health issues that are plaguing youth

A third grade boy practically skips into class. He can’t wait for after recess when they are going to have their long awaited Christmas party. His mouth waters at the thought of all the yummy candy and cookies to be had. Finally, the bell rings and all of the kids race each other inside, only to find bottled waters and an orange on their desks. This disappointing celebration is the result of the new school nutrition policy that dictates what can and cannot be offered in schools (Beard). With over one third of the nation’s children and adolescents obese or overweight in 2010, something must be done about the health of our kids (Childhood). But this new policy has gone too far and limits many aspects of school life. The policy is too severe and needs to be revised because it over regulates fundraisers many school organizations rely upon for funding, it adds a lot of strain on already tight school budgets, and it puts ridiculous standards on school lunches that leave kids feeling hungry and sluggish for the rest of the day.
Under the new policy, any food that competes with the school provided meal must meet certain standards. Furthermore, food sold after school hours or off campus do not need to meet any of the standards (Overview). What this means for many organizations, is that they will no longer be allowed to hold their yearly fundraisers that take place during the school day. Therefore, they will lose the money to run their organization that they would have earned through that event. SADD, for example, was not allowed to sell chocolate bars along with the flowers and balloons for Valentine’s day. Coffee House, a fun event put on by my Literary Magazine class every year that features school talent and sells delicious food to ...

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...ce them with bottles of water for Christmas. The policy must be revised to lighten its iron grip on school nutrition and still keep students full and healthy.

Works Cited

Beard, David. "Bill spurs debate about school nutrition." Dominion Post, The (Morgantown, WV)
06 Feb. 2014: Points of View Reference Center. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.
Childhood Obesity Facts." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, 10 July 2013. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.
Overview of the USDA Released Interim Final Rule." Isbe.net. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2014.
SANDRA E. FORDPRESIDENTSCHOOL NUTRITION, ASSOCIATION. "School Meal
Regulations." FDCH Congressional Testimony (n.d.): Points of View Reference Center.
Web. 19 Feb. 2014.
Sheehy, Kelsey. "Apples Over Cookies." U.S. News Digital Weekly5.27 (2013): 8. Points of View
Reference Center. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.

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