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Essay about National School Lunch Program
Essay about National School Lunch Program
Essay about National School Lunch Program
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The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is used by students throughout the nation and is constantly under evaluation to give students a healthy and balanced meal. The program regulates and standardizes the lunch provided at all public schools, and even some private schools. Through the NSLP, it is ensured that school lunches are (generally) the same from school to school. The NSLP makes certain that a nutrient-rich lunch is available to all students that attend these NSLP using schools throughout the nation. Though it receives a great deal of controversy, this program is found efficient by parents and supplementary to children and adolescents alike.
It is commonly argued that the NSLP is constructed by individuals that are not regularly exposed
“Limited Information is really how we err. But it is also how we think.” The act of actively combating our inductive bias in Kathryn Schulz’s Evidence
Janet Poppendieck is a professor of sociology at Hunter College in New York, and additionally she is the author of several books including her most recent Free for All: Fixing School Food in America. This book centers on America’s recent interest in whether or not our school lunches are healthy. This issue has been put into the spotlight recently through shows such as Jamie Oliver’s School Food Revolution and in the news because recent changes in the Nation School Lunch Program’s dietary guidelines. Poppendieck’s book looks at the in depth reasons into why school lunches have turned into what they are today, what challenges need to be faced in order to fix school lunches, and ultimately how our the system should be fixed. She accomplishes this by interviewing her current college students about their previous school lunch experiences, working in a school cafeteria, interviewing current school employees, and looking at the history and policies of the National School Lunch Program.
For the majority of high school students having the option to go home for lunch or to go somewhere to eat would be the ultimate dream. High school students do not think about the dangers and worry that open campus lunch would cause for staff and parents. They do not think about the small sum of students who would spend that time doing drugs or making messes at local businesses. There would also be an amount of students who would not return, or they may be late returning to school due to traffic at fast food places. Faculty would also have the fret of an increase of car accidents caused from the limited time students would have to go wherever and get back before their next class. On the other hand, students would learn responsibilities and time management. Parents would be forced to give their children money to eat out. Along with the money on their school lunch accounts, or they would be apart of the free lunch school program. Schools cannot have open campus lunches
Today, La Mirada High School has a “closed campus” lunch policy. A closed campus lunch policy means that students can not leave campus to eat and are forced to eat food provided by the district at a price rate which the school chooses. Each year La Mirada and other High Schools alike sell hundreds of lunches a day totalling in thousands of dollars in sales. Money is most likely a major factor in why most schools don’t have an “open campus” lunch policy. Is it right that schools only provide one alternative to bringing a sack of lunch to school when it comes to feeding students at school? To me, a policy such as closed campus lunch is unjust and needs to be revised.
Gunderson, Gordon W. "National School Lunch Program (NSLP)." Food and Nutrition Service. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2014.
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:
One reason our school should get a new lunch menu is many students do not like the food served. For example, a survey was taken and of the 31 students 100% said they disliked the food. As student Bryan Huang said, “The lunches are horrible, they need better choices and more choices.” 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 in 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. But, if they do not like the food served they won’t eat so they starve for the rest of the school day, which can
Stein, A. A., Malmberg, L. E., Sylva, K. K., Barnes, J. J., & Leach, P. P. (2008). The influence
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
According to the Centers for Disease Control, “Childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years,” meaning that America’s children need to start eating healthier, including healthier school lunches. The National School Lunch Act is a fairly recent addition to American society. For, as the world waged war a second time, the United States began to worry about the strength and health of the country’s soldiers. However, in the beginning, selling excess agricultural goods was more important than building a healthy, well-balanced meal for students. Unfortunately, many children coming from poorer families could not afford well-balanced school lunches, so in order to compensate, the School Lunch Program changed its focus to help these students. This program, however, decreased schools’ lunch budgets, and schools had a hard time keeping up with the amount of free meals they had to provide, so they came up with some extra ways to increase revenue. However, in a small town in Massachusetts, one chef makes a difference in the health of the school lunch students eat each day, and proves that hiring a trained chef to cook real, healthy meals can increase profit. Unfortunately, that is not the case in most schools across the nation. The quality of health of the food being served in school lunches is extremely poor and was allowed to decline even more with a new set of rule changes. However, there are some improvements currently being made to increase the quality of health of the food being served to students, including teaching them all about food and its nutritional information, both good and bad. In order for students to eat healthier lunches at school, the USDA needs to implement healthier ...
We should not have longer school lunches. Longer school lunches has a great impact on everyone in school, it makes this issue worse. Students need what is best for them, which they already have. Short school lunches helps improve learning skills and lets students comprehend better. Our lunches are good as they are right now. We should not allow students to leave during school lunch.
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
This myth is one that is so widespread, that it even lives in the minds of psychology students and well-educated people.
Imagine almost 50% of your grade level is much chunkier and meaty than you are. You start to wonder if they are overweight or if you are underweight. You start to be worried sick if you are anorexic because you know the treatments cost a fortune. Have you ever thought about how fatty the foods your school cafeteria serves really are? Most schools may serve an unhealthy food once or twice a month, but if your school regularly serves unhealthy food like nachos and tacos, they have to change their menus right away.
Consuming nutritious foods directly relate to a child’s mental and physical health. Food gives the body energy needed to sustain students throughout the school day contributing to their academic success. The government should mandate free meals just as they mandate school attendance in early childhood education programs. In Rapides Parish and guardians face possible jail time if a child is truant for continuing to arrive to class late or misses more than fourteen school days. If early childhood education is important to the government to the point that they use a parent’s freedom as leverage to ensure attendance, why would all of the factors that contribute to academic success not factor in as well?