In 1946 Harry Truman signed the National School Lunch Act to provide underprivileged students a free and healthy meal at school. Students could expect meals such as grilled chicken with freshly baked bread, or sirloin steak and eggs with fresh fruit for dessert. However, in recent years school lunches have been downgraded severely due to government regulations. “Other than mandating more fruits and vegetables, the new regulations haven’t really changed anything except forcing manufacturers to re-engineer products to be healthier,” said Bertrand Weber. The only difference made to these foods is they are made with lower amounts of salt and fats. Schools and manufacturers are forced to follow guidelines, rather than provide foods that students will actually enjoy.
For a lot of students, especially in low-income areas, the only meal they will get is the meal provided by their school. “Food and nutrition directors at school districts nationwide say that their trash cans are overflowing with unwanted food” according to New York times. But why don't these students eat the school lunches? It all comes down to money. In 1946 the yearly budget for school lunches was around $50 million, in the late 1970’s most public school stopped using the budget and began charging students for their lunch. This backfired because parents did not want to pay hundreds of dollars for a meal they could make cheaper at home. This caused schools to use cheaper and less time-consuming foods to provide to students. In the early 2000’s child obesity rates began to rise, the CDC speculated this was because of unhealthy school lunches. In 2012, Michelle Obama instated the Healthy – Hunger Free Kids act. $4.6 billion dollars was implemented to raise the standard of healthy food in schools. At first the act was working extremely well, obesity rated were lowering and students were enjoying healthy, cheap lunches again.
In 2020, COVID shut down the world causing mass destruction to the economy, including schools. The government passed a bill for $10 million so schools could provide free lunches to students. Because of the raised prices of food and labor, schools were forced cut corners to follow government regulations and provide a cheap and easy meal for students. Because of the cheap alternatives for a healthy meal, parents were enraged over what their kids were being served. To this day some schools are still cutting comers to stay withing government regulations and keep students happy. But will it ever get better?
Do you enjoy school lunch?
Do you think free lunches were worth it?
Do you think that schools should spend more time/money on their meals?
Would you be willing to pay more for schools to put more time into what they serve?
Replies
School lunch is actually quite interesting because somedays the foods are actually good and not just "edible" but other days... sometimes I have to force myself to eat some just so I don't starve...I kind of think that free lunches are worth it but most of the time i have mixed feelings. And yes, in my opinion schools should put more time, effort and money to their foods.
I agree that the lunches can be good at times. And that they could do better at times.
I personally bring my own lunch as school lunches don't appeal to me. I think it's a good idea to provide cheap/free lunches because it helps immensely with people who can't bring their own lunch to school due to money. Schools should spend more time and money on their meals because I feel like more people would purchase/enjoy school lunches that way.
I agree that the free lunches are benifical to some families, and that schools should put more time money into their lunches.
I think that it really depends on what is being made. I think that some lunches can be okay, and obvoulsy etable, but sometimes we have lunches that are bad to the point of students going hungry. I think the free lunches help those who are less forunate and those who can't afford to be constantly paying for lunches. Yes, I think that schools shoud put more effort into making real good food.
I agree that the lunches can be good at times, and that the free lunches are benifical to some families.
School lunch is not the best but it is somewhat eatable. But it is nice that they are free so people don't have to waste money on lunch. Schools should definitely spend a little more time making lunch. If they spend more time making lunch everyone would be a little more happier.
I also agree thay could spend more time working on it.
I agree that the lunches can be good at times, and that the free lunches are benifical to some families.
Never enjoy the school food. It's almost like eating fake food. I don't think the free lunches were worth it but on the otherhand, the kids who cant afford to pay for their lunch now have their chance to eat and not worry.
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