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/

You need to be a member of History 360 to add comments!

Join History 360

Replies are closed for this discussion.

Replies

    • I agree that it would be more likely to happen in larger cities and larger schools where there are more fast food restaurants.   But not all students can bring their lunches to school with them because they cannot afford it and they need the free lunches the school provides to them.

  • I think that students could go get fast food but having schools serve fast food would blow the money for the school foods. Maybe in digger cities. And I know for some private schools they do serve fast foods so maybe only wealthier schools can afford the food.

    • I agree that private schools are more likely to have a fast food lunch.  I think that if there is an extra cost for the fast food option, then the parents can pay the extra amount if they want their student to have it. 

  • I think it would be a cool idea to have fast food at school but i think it would cost alot for the school. But i don't think they should because its not healthy for students to constantly eat fast food so if they did do something like that it should only be open once or twice a week.

    • I do agree that offering a regular fast food meal should be limited to a couple of days a week. However, if it is a healthy fast food meal, then maybe schools could offer it more oftern. The extra cost could be paid for by the parents if they want their students eating fast food.

  • I don't know that fast food in school would be a good thing. Too much fast food can be unhealthy. I can see having it every once in a while but not every day. I do think that schools should cook better food. The food now is not very good. The school needs to make better meals.

    • I do agree with all of this.  However, if healthy fast food could be served, then it would not be bad for the student.

  • Fast food is not really healthy for us teens. Its not good to have super greesey food and study. But to be fair, the school food is not the most healthiest. Im sure if there was a subway for fast food, it would be alot more healthy and its actually good. 

    • I do agree that the the school food is not the healthiest food sometimes, and that subway food would be more healthier.

  • I think they should have fast food. Think if does a lot of kids won't complain about the food since they eat what ever they want.

This reply was deleted.
eXTReMe Tracker