Should Fast Food Be Served In School?

More than 31 million students eat school lunches every day and almost two-thirds of them get a free or reduced-price meal. For some students, this is the only meal they eat every day. Are these meals healthy? Would fast food be a better choce?

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is in charge of the school lunch program across the country and they have very strict guidlines. They have set guidelines on the amount of calories, the amount of salt, the amount of whole grains and require schools to offer fruits and vegetables. School lunches have become much healthier than past years. The cost of a school lunch is less expensive than the fast food option for both the schools and parents. There have been studies done in the past that show student performance at school goes down when they eat fast food on a daily basis. Not only are school lunches healthier, but they are teaching students how to make a better food choice.

Even with the USDA's strict guidelines, school lunches are not always better. Most times, they are processed, frozen food that is reheated. They have artificial flavors and coloring and most times are not very appealing. And safety can be an issue as well. A significant percentage of meat eaten by students at some schools fails to meet quality standards imposed by fast food restaurants. Although fast food does cost more, school lunch prices have increased as well due to inflation. Not all fast food is unhealthy. A lot of fast food restaurants have heilthy choice options on their menus. Giving students a healthy fast food lunch choice could help with their acadamic performance and make for an all better day.

I think schools should offer a fast food lunch option, at a higher price, if it is available in their town.  But, I do think that the fast food choice must be a somewhat healthy one, like a subway meal or grilled chicken nuggets. I do not think that having these kinds of lunch's everyday will change my performance in school.  There are couple of days were I eat very little of my school lunch because the meals are not good. I feel my lunch period and overall day will be much better with the fast food lunch.

 

Questions:

Do you think fast food in schools is a good idea?

If you had a choice, would you eat a school lunch or a fast food lunch? Why?

 

Sites

https://www.publicschoolreview.com/blog/why-fast-food-is-healthier-than-school-lunches-the-shocking-usda-truth

https://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Article/2022/02/08/food-fight-usda-strengthens-school-meal-standards-ahead-of-broad-overhaul-slated-for-the-fall

https://draxe.com/health/school-lunch/

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Replies

  • I do not think that fast food needs to be served in schools. I think this because school is mainly for learning, not fast food. I think that it is not a good idea to have it in schools. If I had the choice to eat it, I would probally not just because School food is cheaper and better for you.

    • I agree that school food is cheaper but I don't always think it healthy.

  • I think that for bigger school escpecially in California or Texas should have this option otherwise smaller (ish) schools should at least offer two different types of food. I think that some schools wouldn't have the money to afford it so it would be mainly for the larger schools that have the money to put one in.

    • I do agree that bigger schools and small (ish) schools should be given fast food. But if some schools can't afford fast food, then at least make the students parents pay for the food.

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