The Positive Consequences Of School Lunch Shaming?

Not one parent wants to see their child go hungry. Several students do not eat during their lunch period because they cannot afford it, or unable to bring food from home for many reasons. Most schools offer free and reduced lunch programs. Not every family may be eligible for these programs. In today’s economy, even middle-class families sometimes cannot provide their children with money for school lunches. A child missing a meal, and going hungry is one too many. Funding to provide all students with two meals per day during school is imperative. Free lunch in public school should be available to all students, despite the level of income.

School lunches all around America are not appetizing to the students. According to New York Times, “More than 30 million children trundle through school cafeteria lines every day in the United States and thanks to the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which took effect in 2012, they are no longer served greasy pizza, salty French fries and sauced up chicken wings. Meals must now be lower in fat, calories and sodium and contain lean proteins, more fruits and vegetables and whole grains. And kids from coast to coast are wrinkling their noses.” (Gonchar) This quote is telling the reader that students from all around the United States are disgusted by lunches. They would rather bring a cold lunch instead. As kids get lunches and hardly eat the trash cans fill up every day and almost over fill with the main course of the lunches for reasons like, it was too cold, it was gross, and it

School lunches are often unsung heroes of many modern American households. Frequently overlooked and disregarded because of their stigma, school lunches are a key ingredient that may help make the world a better place. Unknowingly, great numbers of individuals in our communities deal with food insecurities every day of their lives. It baffles me that in an advanced society many people do not have the resources to provide food for themselves or their families. Until it affected me personally, I was unaware nor passionate about the struggles of food insecurity. My passion for solving food insecurity in my local community has led me to gain both experience and leadership through understanding and advocating for those around me.

The obesity epidemic in America is getting worse to the point that it spread into our children’s school lunches. In Alice Waters’ and Katrina Heron’s article “No Lunch Left Behind” explains that the government is investing a lot of funds into the schools lunches and it is being wasted to buy unhealthy junk foods. Even though with just a little more money, the food can be of better quality, healthier, and safer for the students. Waters and Heron back up their explanation by describing some of the aggravations that some Americans have for this issue through ethos, adding reliable sources to strengthen the piece, and using an informative and serious tone in attempts to be heard and understood by the government and Americans who care about the health and safety of the student.

How can something that so many people go through and so many people struggle with, be so humiliating and embarrassing? The NY Times editorial board, wrote “School Lunch Without Shame,” published in 2017, they state that few states around the US are starting to make free lunch available to their students regardless of income level to ensure proper nutrition and to relieve the shame that often leads children who cannot afford school lunch. The NY Times begins building their credibility with: reputable sources and credible information, convincing facts and statistics, and engaging emotional appeals; with that, the NY Times article attempts to appeal to the readers’ emotions which strengthens their credibility and their overall editorial.

Student hunger is a serious problem. In the article “No One Believes We Do This to Kids: Will Congress End School Lunch Shaming?,” Heather Long explained the results of not having enough money, “A school lunch cost around $2.35. When a kid doesn’t have enough money, many schools require cafeteria workers to take a kids tray of hot food away and throw it in the trash. Children are then handed a cold cheese sandwich---or they are forced to go hungry with no food at all.” The school shouldn’t be wasting food because a student couldn’t pay. They should give the student the food because what's the point of throwing it away. In addition, the article, “Why Lunches in School Need to be Free,” the author explains that “being hungry makes it difficult to focus, makes a child’s mood more surly and

This article by Great Schools is addressed to parents considered about the current school lunches provided to the children in their district. Unlike any other source, this one focuses solely on 3 organizations that advocate. The diversity of the listed projects gives an opportunity to expand on different approaches to solve the various problems of the lunch program. However, there is no attempt to address the current issues of our system, requiring a previous understanding of how the school lunch system currently operates.

Nationwide students waist over 70% of fruits and vegetables,while others are sitting around without food at all in other places(Public brief). Some students only get the 2 meals they are provided with at school ,but they often are not provided with enough to eat. Its import for low income and less fortunate families to be provided enough time to eat to make sure they are receiving there energy and daily nutrients(Godoy& Allison). Increasing the school lunch time will also save the schools a great amount of money(Public brief). School lunch food wasted to cost $1.2 billion dollars each year,which is enough for a person to buy a new car everyday of there life(Public brief). A simple increase in time could save schools a bunch of money needed to improve the school building and faculty. Many cafeteria staff and teachers have reported complaints about how students aren't eating all their food and they have to throw it away(EHHI). Most of the time in high schools foods are sold à la carte instead of a full meal to avoid having to throw away or make more food(EHHI). As a result of the food waste cafeterias started using foods with more fats and less nutritious items to get students to eat( EHHI). Cafeteria are selling french fries and not the healthy food to make there money because students aren't eating enough of the

As we begin our analysis, we reconstruct the context in which, “10 Reasons to Avoid School Lunches Like the Plague”, was written. Recently, Michelle Obama has made a rule that has forced Colorado school’s to improve the health of the school lunch programs. While all of the Douglas County schools have yet to implement the supposedly healthy lunch program, it has still caused much debate. This debate has been fueled by students, parents, and even teachers. All of which have different responses to the conflict. Some believe that healthy lunches will cause more food to be thrown away and therefore healthier, is a bad idea. Others believe that the lunches are still not healthy. All of these elements contribute to the kairotic moment of Leah Segedie’s

School lunch rooms have been evolving over the last decade. Healthier food choices and better-quality food are just two of many improvements happening inside school cafeterias. Although school lunch rooms are making various positive changes, there are still negative consequences for some students. Most students can go through the lunch line and not have to worry about the cost of the meal and whether they have enough money to buy a hot lunch. On the other hand, some students are constantly worrying about not being able to eat lunch due to the price. According to a CNN article titled “School Lunch Shaming” by Heather Long, “…an alarming number of American youngsters still can’t afford a $2.35 lunch, despite the dramatic expansion of free and reduced lunch programs” (paragraph 1), which demonstrates the struggles that these low-income families face when it comes to buying their student school lunches. Staff working in cafeterias have started to “shame” those students by taking away the student’s food and giving them a bag containing a cheese sandwich and milk to those students who are unable to afford their lunch. States such as New Mexico are taking a stand against school lunch shaming and have banned lunch shaming completely. Long also explained that, “The USDA is urging districts to stop “embarrassing” and “singling out” students who don’t have enough money for lunch” (paragraph 9), which further demonstrates the lengths people are going to solve the lunch shaming issues.

One of the articles students would read is “No Lunch Left Behind” by Waters and Heron. The article talks about cheap foods, school cafeterias and food that is thrown away. Public safety’s has been redesigned in every school to help kids eat healthier. “Launched in 1946 as a public safety, it has turned out to be a poor investment. It should be redesigned to make our children look healthier” (Waters and Heron). As what the article says many school cafeterias aren’t really “cafeterias”. They usually heat up frozen foods or left overs. I thought our school cafeteria was like that too but, after the field trip to the cafeteria, I saw that the food they make is freshly made, and the pizza is hand made, not frozen and just heated up. This was a good experience; I now eat food from the cafeteria! Thanks to Susan Stewart. The article “No Lunch Left Behind” is very interesting article to read, like the facts of food being thrown

Did you know that many children rely on government paid lunches at school as their daily meal? School’s out for Summer is an article that shows how important school lunches are to underprivileged children. Anna Quindlen conveyed this message by using quotes, factual evidence and anecdotal evidence throughout her writing.

People live in a complex world where things are never as simple as they seem. Officials agree that in order for students to perform well in school, their basic needs have to be met (in conjunction with the ideas of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs). While schools may not be able to provide a safe place to sleep or warm clothing during the winter, they can provide a healthy, nutritious meal. According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, the number of children under 18 years of age living below the federal poverty level of $23,550 for a family of four represent 21.1% of the population (“Child Poverty,” n.d.). The National Lunch Act and its subsequent revisions have sought to mitigate the effects of hunger. Unfortunately, there are other circumstances that affect the desired outcomes of serving a balanced meal to students in need.

Brand name fast-food items now account for almost 50% of schools sales (Brockett). As one can see, the financial benefits of the brand names in lunches can help boost a school’s declining profit. If fast-food was taken away from menus, many schools would fail to break even and have to cut their staff (Brockett). “Financially, it’s better for us if we go up to 400 meals” said Amy Hedrick, a food service supervisor in California (Lehmann). If she tries to sell off brand pizzas, her profit declines dramatically as she only sells 250 to 300 pizzas. If kids are being forced to eat healthy through their school lunch, they will leave the school over their lunch hour and go find a fast food restaurant. Even if they don’t leave, will taking away their brand name foods really solve the problem? The solution is not to frighten kids away with putting bans on school lunches. Rather, teach them about nutritional values of the healthier options and leaving them the choice, as it talks about in “The State Has No Place In The Lunch Bags Of A Nation”. If students know the benefits of eating healthy, they will start to turn away from fast

Is school lunch actually feeding America’s children? (1. Rhetorical Question) Today, many students are reporting that they are unsatisfied with their school’s lunch. Strict guidelines set for America’s schools control what exactly is going through cafeterias in order to maintain healthy and happy students. However, students are disappointed in these guidelines and disagree that they are of any benefit. School lunches still lack nutrition, limit food choices and proportions, and neglect appeal. (2. Parallelism)