Persuasive Essay On School Lunch Programs

1163 Words3 Pages

Do you remember your favorite “School Lunch”? I do, I essentially had two favorites; pizza and hamburgers with fries. Think back, wasn’t there at least one school lunch that the lunch ladies made that everyone was so excited to eat. Kids that habitually brought their super hero lunch box with thermos would leave it at home and be in line for pizza or burgers and fries. We could also go back for “seconds”, it was the best meal of the week including what was served at home. The federal government has been involved in the NSLP (National School Lunch Program) since 1946 with the implementation of the National School Lunch Act. These initial programs developed the commodity distribution program for schools, institutions, needy households, summer …show more content…

The impact that these changes have had on school lunch programs have not been progressive or improved the school lunch program.
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 …show more content…

Active teens require 2000-5000 calories a day(Kids Health). The healthy choices may be available but, are kids really eating the food? According to the statistics on waste, the answer to this question is”No”. The Healthy Kids Hunger-Free Act originated in 2010, new updated guidelines implemented in 2012 include the following: increase amounts of fruits and vegetables, calorie limits according to age group, reduction in fats and sodium. All schools were required to implement the changes in 2012-2013. One of the changes implemented because of the enormous amount of waste was “offer versus serve”. In the updated guidelines, this was another requirement. The term “offer versus serve” was coined to reduce waste: students can decline some of the food offered that they do not intend to eat (USDA Food and Nutrition Service n.p.). This confirms the fact that students were not eating the healthy choices that were being served. As a result the calorie intake for a student was now a health risk since they are not getting enough to support their growing bodies. Another point to be seen with the caloric guidelines and putting a cap on the caloric intake of a child is that these figures do not consider and athlete; who needs double or triple the caloric intake to support 2 hours of training in the morning and 2-3 hours after school, or the

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