School Lunches Essay

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

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.

The National School Lunch Program enforced a rule, which “sought to improve school meals” (United 4088). The rule includes many different parts to it, which requires state agencies to acquire and check many different pieces of data. The first thing the state agencies are required to do, according to the United States Department of Agriculture, is to “Conduct a nutritional review of school lunches and breakfasts as part of the administrative review process” (4088). By having these checks, the USDA can ensure that schools are following the dietary restrictions as well as meeting the FDA nutritional standards. The second step for state agencies is to “Determine compliance with the meal patterns and dietary specifications based on a review of menu and production records for a two-week period” (4088-4089). This guarantees that schools will follow the FDA regulations because the state agencies force schools to follow and be compliant. To conclude the first rule, the third and final action that state agencies must take is to “Review school lunches and breakfasts every three years, consistent with the HHFKA (Healthy Hungry-Free Kids Act)” (4089). This assures that schools are adhering to the FDA guidelines over the long run. The agencies check the school menu over the past three years, to make

The National School Lunch Program is an enormous federal program that has grown to become the second largest U.S. food and nutrition assistance program in both numbers of children served. In 2009, over 31 million children participated in the NSLP each school day at a cost of 9.3 billion to the Federal government. The SBP reached 11 million children at an additional cost of 2.4 billion. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) administers the program on the federal level and provides oversight of the states agencies that are responsible for the program, in Georgia, the department of education manages the statewide program. Ultimately, the success of the program resides with the local school district or each individual school food authority who implement the program to the students. The laws establishing the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program stated that schools had to run their nutrition programs profit free and set the monetary per meal rates to reimburse the individual school. Rates for school year 2009 were $2.72 for free lunches, $2.32 for reduced cost lunches and $.26 for paid lunches. Today, almost half of all lunches served are provided free to students, with an additional 10 percent provided at reduced prices. Although schools are not required to offer NSLP meals, 94 percent of schools, both public and private, choose to participate in the program. Little

Receiving free or reduced school lunch is one of the first things hungry children receive. The NSLP (National School Lunch Program) makes it possible for children to receive breakfast and lunch every day by

The lunches served in Frederick County Schools, and Urbana High School in particular lack nutritional value and are unappetizing. When interviewing Casey Ballow (a student who buys lunch everyday) about whether the school lunches are nutrional she said “The majority of students walk out [of the lunch line] without the most nutritional part of their lunch”. FCPS has made snacks whole grain, which usually makes them less tasty. Packing a lunch is a hassle because it is both time consuming and expensive, not to mention you cannot bring any warm foods. When asked why Casey chooses to buy a lunch, despite getting “soggy chicken patties and burnt french fries” she said “Buying a lunch saves me time in morning”. There is not a wide enough selection of lunch foods for students.

National School Lunch and Breakfast program is a federally funded program that provides nutritional breakfast and lunches to children at a reduced cost or free each school day at a public, nonprofit private school and residential child care institutes.

High school food options raise problems for students. School lunches may not be the cheapest option for the students or the district. According to "Duluth high school principals want to stick with open campuses," Duluth’s principal, Tonya Sconiers, opposes a closed campus because of the financial burden. This program change would cost the school approximately $239,000 to supply what would be needed for the new food policy. In addition, the lunches provided by the school lack quality. Students report the food as bland, and portion size is not enough to fuel for the entire school day. Numerous students involved in after-school activities cannot perform their best without a sufficient amount food in their stomachs. The food should provide energy for the students throughout the day. For low-income students, this lunch might be the only reliable daily meal.

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is the second largest federally assisted food program in the United States and operates in over 100,000 public and nonprofit schools and residential childcare institutions (USDA, 2014). Schools that participate in the NSLP must serve lunches that meet the nutrition standards defined by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and are required to serve free or reduced priced lunches to eligible students. In return, participating schools receive cash subsidies and commodities from the USDA for each meal they serve. Over 5 billion lunches were served in 2012 by schools adhering to the NSLP (USDA, 2014). The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) regulates the NSLP at the federal level and educational

Public school food must meet the federal nutrition requirement that is implemented for each state, but decisions about what foods to serve and how they are prepared are made by the local school food authorizes. Most school lunches rely heavily on high energy, low-nutrient-value food, because it has shown to be cheaper.

Some high schools have an open lunch policy. If there’s a McDonalds next door with a dollar menu do you think children would choose a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a bag of chips from the school lunch line over a double cheeseburger, fries, and a milkshake for the same price? No. In addition to following the legal requirements to purchase food or obtain USDA Foods, SFAs must ensure that federal school nutrition programs meet specific nutrition standards and meal patterns, comply with food safety standards, and meet other applicable state and local laws. School food authorities serving meals under the federal school lunch and breakfast programs are required by federal law to obtain and document two food safety inspections, conducted by state or local officials, each year and to maintain appropriate sanitation and health standards

Have you ever taken a bit in your school lunch and just want to spit it all back out? Or how about the little portions you get? These types of school lunches should not be allowed to be given to the students because there are many reasons why school lunches are bad for health reasons. Although the school lunches are supposed to be healthier and better for our well-being, school lunches should change because it’s not very appetizing, there are little portions, and there isn’t any difference in the health level before.

To ensure the health of children in the United States, and to encourage school aged children to eat nutritious meals, President Harry S. Truman signed the National School Lunch Act in 1946. Today, the National School Lunch Program(NSLP) is a federally assisted program that provides children from low income families free lunches in public and private schools. The meals are nutritionally balanced, based on the latest Dietary Guidelines for Americans by the United States Department of Agriculture and the United States Department of Health and Human Services, and offered at a reduced rate or free to children whose families met the qualifications. (Dietary Guidelines for Americans )In 2012 the NSLP offered lunches to over 31 million children each school day. To qualify for the school lunch program, families must earn at or below $44,000 annually for a family of four, which was about 51% of school aged children in 2012. The poverty rate for a family of four in 2017 is $24,600. The NSLP will feed children whose families are almost twice the poverty rate (National School Lunch Program, 2017).

Federally-funded school meal programs, including the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the School Breakfast Program (SBP), serve an average of 31.3 million lunches and 11.1 million breakfasts per day at a cost to the country of $11.1 billion in 2011 (Food & Nutrition Services, 2012). These federally-funded meals are an excellent opportunity for regulation of nutrition as well as education regarding healthy choices. Obesity is clearly a great threat to the health of our nation, and the federal government must step in to defend its citizens against this growing threat. Children are at the mercy of their families, their social conditions, and their schools, predisposing them to obesity through poor nutritional options and a lack of education; the federal government must intervene through regulation of school meals and snacks to protect children from the abundance of unhealthy options while also educating them and reducing childhood obesity.

The students of our school should rally together and hang the cooks in the Cafeteria. Well, maybe that is a little too dramatic, but something has to be done about the school lunch. The stuff that they serve the students is truly awful. Students should not be forced to eat in the cafeteria because the meals are not prepared well, there are foreign objects in the deserts, and many kids have gotten ill after eating certain items.