The National Lunch Program

Hunger has been a prevalent issue in both established communities and struggling nations around the globe. It seems that there has never been a time when every person on the planet was food secure, and while it is typically assumed that hunger is an issue only in developing nations, malnutrition and hunger are concerns even in the United States. Millions of children across the country live in homes where food is scarce and meals are skipped on a regular basis. Because research supports the connection between nutrition, good health, and cognitive ability, it is critical that methods of addressing food shortages for minor children be found. One solution, the School Breakfast Program, seeks to provide healthy breakfast meals for children

Since 2009 Schools have been improving there healthy choices of food like fresh fruits and salad bars,but those foods take longer to eat (Hellmich). Turning school lunches into an actual sit down meal rather than a feeding frenzy is a good way of improving health (Parker-Pope). Students usually have less than 20 minutes to eat lunch which makes it less likely for them to choose the healthy choice (Elsevier). Kids often like to eat there favorite foods first,not giving them enough time to eat the healthy food (Hellmich). An increase in school lunches could encourage students to eat the healthier choice(5 Elsevier). School nutritionist suggest that students need to have atlas 20 minutes to eat (Hellmich). Research shows that when people consume meals faster they take in more calories because they get hungry sooner (Chen). The shorter lunch periods are starting to lead to more and more obese and overweight kids ( Hellmich). Doctors are saying there are more and more kids getting diabetes and other illnesses due to the lunches and something needs to be done about it

The health of students should be considered one of the most important issues in education. However, as of 2012, the Center for Disease Control calculated that over one third of children and adolescents were either overweight or obese. Not only does obesity cause physical health problems, but can also affect the academic performance of students. Over the past few years, Americans have been working together to find solutions for this problem.

The National School Lunch Program is a federally funded meal program operating in over 100,000 public. It provides nutritionally balanced, low‐cost or free lunches to more than 31 million children each school day in 2012 based on the child's household income (USDA). The program is managed by the Food and Nutrition Service at the Federal level and by a State education agency at the state level. We will be looking at the statistics of the National Lunch Program for five local schools, and compare the number of students enrolled in the districts and the percentage that are receiving free or discounted meals at school. Additionally, the requirements to be eligible to participate in the program, as well as the reimbursement the school

to provide students with a healthy diet. Even though schools must meet the national requirement

In numerous incidences around the country schools have reportedly denied their students school lunches because their lunch accounts are overdrawn in some cases by only a couple dollars (Green). Also, traditional packed lunches are under fire, in part, because some administrators who feel that the lunches are not nutritious enough for students have banned them (Eng, Hood). Because some school children are going hungry and have no other means of obtaining a meal during the school day, the school lunch program needs to take additional measures to ensure that the needs of all US students are being met.

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is one of the largest food and nutrition assistance programs in the United States. (Moore, Gothro, Conway, Kyler, 2014). The NSLP provides nutritionally balanced lunches free or reduced- prices meals to income-eligible children each school day. The program is federally funded but administered through State and individual school districts. Federal government establishes the program rules and guidelines. States monitor funding and compliance of the federal guidelines.

Currently, school lunches must meet the applicable recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. According to these recommendations and based on individual meals, no more than 30 percent of calories can come from fat, and less than 10 percent from saturated fat. Regulations also establish a standard for school lunches to provide one‐third of the Recommended Dietary Allowances of protein, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, iron, calcium, and calories (National School Lunch Program, 2011). School lunches must meet Federal nutrition requirements, but decisions about what specific foods to serve and how they are prepared are made by local school food authorities.

Healthiness is not an entitlement, it is a right. As a result, it is becoming increasingly important to focus on current food standards to not only create a brilliant, but also abled-bodied generation of future leaders. However, current guidelines established by the National School Lunch Act only address one-third of a minimum daily nutrients requirement. In fact, a recent seven-month survey found that only 22% of the student body view their lunch as nourishing compared to 94% of school staffs (School Nutrition Standards). The disproportions between students and non-students are due to the distasteful stigma associated with school lunches and requires a change of policy. Even though school nutrition standards exist, they inadequately address the essential dietary requirements of the student population and should be modified after successful guidelines in countries like Japan and Finland, and incorporate student opinion to satisfy the public and maintain health.

The goals,is to improve school food, teach nutrition, support sustainable food systems, and create an education program focused on understanding the relationships between food, culture, health, and the environment.By the time today’s kindergartner finishes high school, she may have eaten well over 4,000 school meals—4,000 opportunities to strengthen her body and mind, introduce food pleasures that will make her a lifelong healthy eater, and deepen her engagement with the natural world. The more than 5.5 billion lunches and nearly 2 billion breakfasts served yearly in school programs, along with complementary education programs, can have a profound effect on issues of public health, academic performance, economics, justice, national security,

Do you know that school lunch is bad for children? Have you ever packed lunch because the food looks fattening or gross? Do you want healthier food? Has school lunch ever made your tummy hurt? I believe school lunch is bad for children because they serve food that is fattening which causes obesity, food that causes stomach viruses that will cause students to get sick and does not feed children enough.

Calories, obesity, epidemic―these words flash through daily conversion like wildfire. The American public today is severely concerned with the nation’s growing health problem, as they should be. Recently, the nation’s school lunches have had major renovations due to the alarming increase in childhood obesity. The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) has set out to fix the problems concerning nutrition in school lunches. Because the National School Lunch Program is required to follow the most current version of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA), school lunches are undergoing massive reform at the cost of students.

Have you ever tasted school cafeteria food? I don’t think you would want to. In school story books, do you have characters saying that the food tasted good at school cafeterias? Nope. Why is this? 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, advanced lunch system should be implemented.

Junk food, junk food, junk food is around all corners of schools. Chocolate, cookies, soda, potato chips, and Sour Strings may sound delectable to some people, but are they nutritious? Some people wonder if there should be a change. Encouraging exceptional nutrition in schools is essential by reasons of students will consume foods that are better for them, schools will pay less for meals, and fewer students would go hungry.

The nutrition standards for National School Lunch Program require lunches to offer the food components and quantities specified in the meal pattern, five components which are fruit, vegetable, meat/meat alternate, whole grain-rich, and milk. A daily serving of fruit weekly but over a week no more than half of fruit offered could be in the form of juice.