The School Food Service Is Necessary For Meals Served By The National School Lunch Program Is Adequate

The eating habit of millions of Americans have changed tremendously over the past decades; meanwhile, there are no signs of making a difference. And it can be reflected on the school lunches provided to our local schools in the U.S, but what is exactly the problem? While, there are billions of dollars spent on the School Lunch Program; the food provided doesn’t reach a certain level of nutrients. The healthier and fresh crops seems to be just out the price range; for this reason, fast food is the only thing that can be affordable. Making school lunches unhealthy! Alice Waters says, “...it has turned out to be a poor investment” (par. 1) That is, why, it is time

A public school in Washington DC require 1,25 dollar per meal for the student, but the prize would increase significantly if the government would have delivered the food. Even though the buy and deliver thousand of tons of food around the coutriy the meal choices reflect federal nutritional recommendations, regional culinary preferences, and local district economics. What's a "good school lunch" consist of, still remains a hot debate.

In order to maximize our program’s ability to provide nutritious meals and snacks, we participate in the federal school nutrition programs, which includes the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs. According to the Department of Agriculture, the National School Lunch Program is a federally assisted meal program for public and nonprofit private schools and residential child care institutions (2015). It provides nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunches to children each school day. On the same note, our program participates in School Breakfast Program. The department of Agriculture specifies that this program provides cash assistance to states to operate nonprofit breakfast programs in schools and residential childcare institutions. Both the National School Lunch Program, and the School Breakfast Program, ensures that the children receive the adequate nutrition while the our

“Schools that choose to take part in the lunch program get cash subsidies and donated commodities from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for each meal they serve in return, they must serve lunches that meet Federal requirements, and they must offer free or reduced price lunches to eligible children.”("National school lunch," 2011) The school and government have a responsibility to make sure the students receiving these reduced of free lunches have access to a meal that is healthy and nutritious because this meal is their only option for lunch during the school day.

The school's lunch food, while distastful, are simply not worth the money. Especially when there is an option to spend the money on a richer in flavor and healthier choice. To put it another way, the value of the food does not compare to the price required. [Adding Metacommentary]. Likewise, the vending machines were funded money to replace the foods with healthier choices. Which did not improve students' health but decreased the students' contribution. "A greater food selection does have a positive effect upon participation" (Marples and Spillman). In Marples and Spillman's study, 43% of the students rated the school lunches as poor and only 5% referred to the lunches as good. This percentage went up significantly when asked if they would participate in school lunches if quality changed. Nearly two-thirds of the students stated that if the lunches were to become tastier they would eat it more often. Therefore, the quality of foods has a significant input when it comes to student

School lunches play a major role in the United States school system. School lunches in the United States are often processed. Consuming these school lunches will eventually lead to obesity from how unhealthy the processed food is and because parents cannot not afford to pack their kids lunches, this leaves children with no other choice. With processed lunches as their only options, children are not able to access the sufficient quality of food and its nutrients. Looking at the rest of the world, France has the lower obesity rate, and, in its schools, France has a four-course school lunch. These lunches are packed full of fresh produce like steak, cucumber salad, and salmon lasagna (The New York Times, Paragraph 5). In the United Kingdom, “It’s a shame that Congress seems more interested in

Being the petty teenager I am, I decided to research the weaknesses revolving around America's current public school lunch program after getting into an argument regarding the healthfulness of school meals. I was called a picky eater for virtually refraining school meals from entering my diet for the past few years, whereas I concluded that a majority of my peers would agree that our school lunch program is far from desirable. To support my claim, I began to research school lunches and its correlation to child obesity. I also went into detail on the impact of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act and how governmental mandates have shaped our system. However, I also discussed the unhealthy and wasteful mindset about food our children obtain and carry from their experiences as a student. Finally, I critiqued the school meal programs of other modern countries to help point out possible approaches to fixing the system.

The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act was passed in 2012, in order to counteract rising childhood obesity rates. Creators of these requirements specifically targeted schools. There are several specific examples of the way schools struggle to meet these demands from a variety of sources. In the article, “Why Some Schools Serve Local Foods And Others Can’t (Or Won’t),” Katherine Ralston, a USDA economist is cited as stating“[t]he biggest barriers to going local --- [...] lie in the details; contract requirements, paperwork and a difference in the scale of need at the school and production on the farm” (McMillan). Another article written by Alexandra Sifferlin, published in TIME and titled “Why Some Schools Are Saying ‘No Thanks’ to the School-Lunch Program” explains that “[...] schools are dropping out of the healthier school-lunch program because they [… can not] afford to participate [...Because] Kids […are not] buying the better-for-them options in the cafeteria”. With all the legislation passed and community efforts, it would seem that school lunches would be serving the optimum amount of healthy nutritional foods; however, in countless cafeterias across the country that is not the case. Long before all the controversy surrounding school lunchrooms, the National School Lunch Act of 1964 was passed for one simple purpose, to feed hungry children. According to Emelyn Rude, a graduate of Harvard majoring in Social Studies and a writer for Time, a

The school lunch program is a government funded program that provides breakfast, lunch, and after school snacks at a low or no cost to school children. Congress passed the National School Lunch Act in 1946 to improve child nutrition, but has failed along the way. It is the schools responsibility to decide what foods to serve and how to prepare them, this is the job of the nutritionist and as a result of not improving, and children are being greatly impacted. Opinions and concerns regarding school menus needs to addressed. First start with the person whoever is in charge

Though school lunch services are not free, school lunch is affordable, efficient and easily accessible. Students belonging to families of different income brackets may receive discounted lunches, if eligible. For these families, school lunch is extremely helpful and is offered at a very great price. Price and quality of school lunch is often in question. Price of meals can vary by region, city and state. The school lunch programs run off of participation greatly. Research has found, as quality in food decreases, the participation does as well. As the price of school lunch increases, quality and participation can as well. When a district can sell more lunches, they are able to spend more money on better quality foods, though they are not actually seeing a lot of profit from the sale of lunches. Often, students and parents think that the solution to unsatisfying school lunches is to end their participation with the program. This will only solve the problem for one student, which makes a huge impact on the program. Even one student leaving the school lunch program can have an outstanding effect on the quality of the meal provided. Parents and students have the common misconception that schools are the primary beneficiary of the profits of school lunch. Schools keep a very small amount per meal sold. Majority of the money from the school lunches is used to cover expenses for future meals. This is why it is important for schools to take an accurate lunch/ attendance survey at the beginning of each school

One of the issues related with the recent change in school lunch and breakfast is the economic situation. The government increased 6 cents per meal reimbursement for school lunch and breakfast program if the schools met the new nutrition standards, but some school districts had concerns that the revenue from

In addition, the policy will not only limit school organizations, it will also limit the school board as well. A small drop in student participation in the school lunch program could cause a year end deficit in profit. Already, the USDA has reported a 3.2 percent decrease in the average participation in school lunches. There is also the added cost of retraining the employees to put a strain on the already tight budget for school lunches (SANDRA). In addition, by eliminating all of the à la carte items that don’t meet the absurd new standards would cause some districts to lose up to $100,000 a year (Sheehy). The school boards should advocate for the policy to lighten its restrictions to allow them to keep some of their more popular items and save their budget.

Many schools experienced a simultaneous drop in revenue and an increase in food costs. The overall loss of profits far outweigh the potential financial benefits from the incentive of six cents given to the school for every healthy meal. One source estimates the cost of each lunch is roughly ten cents, but 54.3% of schools reported that the promised reimbursement would not sufficiently cover the cost (Pratt-Heaver). As harmful as this would be to the average school, the impact these costs would have on schools in low-income districts would be especially detrimental. If they cannot afford to comply with the federal regulations, they cannot partake of the non-financial benefits offered from the program, such as free or reduced lunch options for

“Operating a school district food service department is anything but simple. Even in the smallest districts, food service operations are businesses that must comply with many more rules than those in the private sector. School food service departments must operate as nonprofits, yet they need to make enough money to be self-sufficient” “At stake are the reputations of the districts’ own food service departments and the welfare of longtime employees, who fear they will get dismissed in the struggle to save money.” (Hot Potato in the School Cafeteria. (n.d.). Retrieved February 07, 2016, from http://www.aasa.org/SchoolAdministratorArticle.aspx?id=14122) I think what you are reading here is that much school in order to save money and focus on learning and not worry about the food aspect of it. They are looking at going this route. I think what you can say is that the labor issues is more on the schools and not the company’s that come in to make the food. The biggest thing that has probably made this segment more feasible is the regulations that have come down on school and made making food at a reasonable cost harder then it has to

Throughout my time in high school, I often struggled finding something to eat at lunch. I’m not a particularly picky person, but I spent copious amounts of time wandering around the cafeteria looking for an appetizing lunch and coming up short. I felt like I was hopelessly searching for scrumptious food. Not only did I have trouble finding palatable food, I couldn’t find any healthy options either. Everyday I ended up buying a lunch that was unfilling, unhealthy and sometimes downright inedible. School cafeteria’s inability to serve healthy and hearty lunches is a nationwide issue that affects elementary through high school students very profoundly. It is vital that growing children eat filling amounts of healthy food to support their rapid physical and mental growth, and for some students, school lunch may be the only meal they get each day. In order for school districts to properly support their students’ learning, they must also support a nutritious diet for the students through proper portioning, healthy choices and affordable school lunches.