Growing up in a small town the food options in
my school district were very slim. There was one lunch offered a day, no
alternatives for students with allergies, intolerances, and no healthy options.
Without fail, year after year, the highlight of my day was chicken nuggets,
Bosco sticks, and pizza. Once we got to middle school, our school offered what
I thought was tons of options. The problem was the food they offered was pizza,
chicken nuggets, cheese fries, and hamburgers. I had no concept of the junk I was
putting in my body to fuel it.
In the link below, What’s
Wrong with School Lunches, Cooper states, “We're seeing sick kids get
sicker and sicker. And the reason this is happening, by and large, is because
of our food system and the way the government commodifies food, the way the
government oversees our food, the way the USDA puts food on kids' plates that's
unhealthy, and allows unhealthy food into schools. And by -- tacitly, all of us
send our kids, or grandchildren, or nieces, or nephews, to school and tell them
to learn, you know, learn what's in those schools. And when you feed these kids
bad food, that's what they're learning. So that's really what this is all
about” (Cooper, 2007). Cooper agrees that school lunches are not only
unhealthy, but they are, teaching students that eating those foods is good for
them. She says that the only way to fix this growing problem is for everyone to
step up and help stop it. Whether it’s petitioning for healthier schools in
your district or simply packing lunch for your child, anything will help.
When
thinking about the effects of eating unhealthy foods most people just think
about weight gain, but have you ever thought about the other effects these
children have? Think about the children who do not have consistent meals, the
only food they receive is food they get from school. They come to school, their
brains are foggy, and all they can think of is their next meal. These students
need nutritious, filling meals that will keep their mind and bodies fueled. In
his TED Talk, Kass talks about how he instituted a program for all schools who
had a forty percent more low-income kids. Every student in this school would
receive not only a free lunch, but also a free breakfast. These kids would come
to school and not have to sit and wait for their first meal of the day, instead
they would start off with a meal. Kass stated that, “The schools that have
implemented this program saw an increase in math and reading scores by 17.5
percent. 17.5 percent. And research shows that when kids have a consistent,
nutritious breakfast, their chances of graduating increase by 20 percent. 20
percent. When we give our kids the nourishment they need, we give them the
chance to thrive, both in the classroom and beyond” (Kass, 2015). When we think
about school lunches, we need to think about the effects that they have on
every child. Most importantly, the children who do not receive consistent meals
at home. They are the ones lacking the nutrients they need to grow and
function, they are the ones we need to make sure are receiving nutritious
meals.
I
believe that schools are starting to take the right steps towards improving
school lunches. If I were to look back at the school lunches I was fed as a
child, and now look at the one my brother receives, there have been vast
improvements. At my brother’s school there are four lunches served a day. The
normal lunch special, a vegetarian option, a gluten free option, and a salad.
They can choose their sides and can opt for healthier options. His school even
offers breakfast to students and healthy snacks for students who do not have
one, or who forgot theirs at home. With the option of these healthy meals, the
real question is, are these students picking the healthier option? Thanks to
the Obama administration, school lunches are starting to become healthier with
less options of junk food. “The amounts of fat, sugar and salt were drastically
reduced. Portion sizes shrank. Lunch trays had to hold more fruits and
vegetables. Snacks and food sold for fund-raising had to be healthier”
(Severson). If we want children to live longer, grow up healthy, and perform
well in school, we need to make sure they are receiving proper nutrition to
fuel their bodies. While I believe that school lunches are not perfect, I
believe there have been steps made towards a healthier future of school
lunches.
References
Cooper, A. (2007, December). What's wrong with
school lunches Retrieved February 12, 2018, from https://www.ted.com/talks/ann_cooper_talks_school_lunches/transcript?
Kass,
S. (2015, November). Want kids to learn well? Feed them well. Retrieved
February 12,
2018, from
https://www.ted.com/talks/sam_kass_want_to_teach_kids_well_feed_them_well
Severson,
K. (2017, September 05). Will the Trump Era Transform the School Lunch?
Retrieved
February 12, 2018, from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/05/dining/school-lunch
trump-obama.html
No comments:
Post a Comment