Nowadays, one-third of kids in the U.S. are now overweight or obese, which means one-third of kids are at risk of heart disease and diabetes as they age. Last year, in report titled Too Fat to Fight, a group of retired military brass blamed school lunches for the fact that an estimated 27 percent of Americans youth are too overweight to serve in the armed forces. A study of Michigan sixth graders published in December found that regularly consuming school lunches was a greater risk factor for obesity than spending two or more hours a day watching television or playing video games. Today, most school lunches rely heavily on high-energy, low-nutrient-value food. Why it is so much processed food used to prepare school meals? The answer is only one because it’s cheaper and “cooking from scratch” kitchens have been removed from the schools. The federal government will not provide enough funding to enable schools to buy fresh, whole ingredients. Despite some improvements, U.S. school meal programs are still laden with unhealthy fat, salt and sugar ( Poppendieck, 47).
At the beginning the school lunch program was designed to improve the nutrition of the nation’s children. As early as the 19th century, some American schools operated their own school lunch programs, often with the help of volunteers. In the 1930s, in the midst of the Great Depression, the federal government began providing some funds for school lunches on an ad hoc basis. But many children still didn't get enough to eat. The problem was thrown into stark relief during World War II, when it was discovered that half of all draftees who were deemed unfit for service were rejected because of malnutrition ( Poppendieck, 31). In 1946, Congress passed the National School Lunch Act "as a measure of national security." The law guaranteed a free or subsidized midday meal for millions of needy children. It was also intended to teach America what to eat. During the Depression, when farmers were surrounded by mountains of unsold commodities and schools were full of hungry children, New Deal politics had used the USDA to funnel surpluses to school cafeterias. Thus, when it came time to designate an authority for the new national lunch program, the USDA seemed a natural choice. Schools would receive subsidized commodities and cash reimbursements in exchange for feeding low- income children lunches that met USDA nutrition standards. And so the same law that was supposed to ensure a nutritious midday meal for millions of kids also created an enduring market for American farmers.
Today, according to the article “The school Lunch Wars” written by Kristen Hinman, students from families with incomes below 130 percent of the poverty level ($28,665 for a family of four) eat for free. The school receives a federal subsidy of $2.72 per meal. Children from families earning up to 185 percent of the poverty level pay 40 cents per meal, and the subsidy is correspondingly reduced. Other students pay the "full" price, an average of $1.60. The government also provides a small subsidy for these meals, on the principle that child nutrition contributes to national security. Even so, schools often are not able to cover the production cost of the "full" price meals and essentially make up the difference from the subsidies meant for lower- income kids. According the article “Why School is Nasty” written by Liam Julian typical lunchroom landscape in most of the schools in the United States is filled with the processed and the reheated: pizza, French fries and chicken nuggets. A 2004 survey by the School Nutrition Association found pizza and chicken nuggets to be the most popular cafeteria entrees, and potatoes and corn to be the most popular vegetables. The problem is much deeper because most schools kitchens do not have the simplest tools like knives or equipment to store fresh fruits and vegetables. Moreover, The United States Department of Agriculture, which administers the school food program, does maintain nutrition regulations but the food sold in lunchrooms is not part of the federal food program. Much of it is part of school-run “a la carte” vending that is not nutritionally regulated. “A la carte” lines which schools open in order to generate extra cash and which hawk a variety of fast-food are humming along in 90 percent of middle schools and high schools and 75 percent of elementary schools. Since the government did not reimburse for a la carte fare, and thus did not regulate its nutritional content, school official are free to offer French fries, nachos, and pizza. Some items are branded by fast-food companies such Domino’s Pizza and Taco Bell. Many schools also allowed companies to install vending machines that dispensed snack foods, candy, and soda, from which the schools kept a portion of the sales (Schlosser,57).
Currently most of the public schools serve the poor-quality food and that’s the result of a broken food system. Author Janet Poppendieck explains in her book “Free for All” that today students have a bizarre freedom to choose for lunch at school French fries, chicken nuggets, greasy pizzas, ice creams, sodas and other poor-quality foods alongside the usual lunch selections. These foods contain artificial preservatives, colors, flavors and sweeteners or contain high-fructose corn syrup or trans-fats. One the other side kids eat this kind of food because many schools do not have functioning kitchens or the money to improve them. It became standard practice for cafeteria staff to purchase ready-made heat- and –eat meals. That’s one of the causes why one-third of kids living in the United States suffer from obesity. Furthermore, overweight in childhood is associated with increases in type 2 diabetes, kidney failure, cancer and atherosclerosis, formerly regarded as adult diseases, asthma and joint problems, and with depression, anxiety, and sleep apnea. It contributes to low self-esteem and increases the likelihood that a child will be bullied or teased. Like hunger, childhood obesity can interfere with children’s academic performances and ability to concentrate in school. The report, published in The New England Journal of Medicine says that obesity is already shortening average life spans by a greater rate than accidents, homicides and suicides combined. Moreover, according the article “Children’s Life Expectancy Being Cut Short by Obesity” written by Pam Belluck explains that “for the first time in two centuries, the current generation of children in America may have shorter life expectancies than their parents, according to this report, which contends that the rapid rise in childhood obesity, if left unchecked, could shorten life spans by as much as five years”. The U.S population may be inadvertently saving Social Security by becoming more obese” and dying sooner, but that “ this benefit will occur at the expense of the economy in the form of lost productivity before citizens reach retirement and large increases in Medicare cost associated with obesity and its complications.
In conclusion, the program that was design to improve nutrition’s of the nation children create unhealthy food that lead kids to serious diseases and raise the sick future generation. Children are getting obese every day from regularly eating fast food at school. No laws are being made to enforce it. This low-quality food is causing many illnesses, from cardiovascular disorders to diabetes, making children perform worse in school and their life. At the same time parents don’t care enough about their child school food and children enjoy the food and don’t think about the long term effects of the chemicals that they put in their mouths. Furthermore, the school environment do not teach our children to make healthy food choices serving them fast foods that tend to be high in fat, calories and low in many important for their health nutrients. Additionally, the school lunch program has consistently been viewed and managed not primarily as a way to provide healthful meals to American children but as a salve for any number of national crises of the moment. I think that it will take another generation to see meaningful change in the waistlines of American children.
Works Cited
Belluck , Pam. “Children’s Life Expectancy Being Cut Short By Obesity”. New York Times. March 17, 2005. Web. 8 May 2011.
Hinman , Kristen. " The School Lunch Wars." Wilson Quarterly 35.2 (2011): 16-21. Academic Search Complete . Web . 8 May 2011.
Julian, Liam. "Why School Lunch is "Nasty!." Policy Review 163 (2010): 43-53. Academic Search Complete. Web. 8 May 2011.
McGray, Douglas. "A Revolution In School Lunches." Time 175.16 (2010): 50-53. Academic Search Complete. Web. 8 May 2011.
Rabin, Roni.” Obesity and School Lunches”. New York Times, 2011. Web. 8 May 2011.
Poppendieck, Janet. Free For All: Fixing School Food in America. Los Angeles: Regents, 2010. Print.
Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation. New York: Harper Perennial, 2005. Print.
