In this article a mother is outraged about what kind of foods her children were given the choice to eat, so she got involved. This San Francisco school mother helped the principal remove "junk foods" But this act is very expensive, the government repays schools $2.74 for every meal but that did not cover the cost so the schools had to raise the money themselves. Most schools don't meet USDA regulations with their lunches simply because it is very expensive. As a result of poor food children are more likely to gain weight. The school in San Francisco that this article is based on had a test run, bringing in vegetables and fruits and other healthy alternatives and found out quickly how costly it really was.This is all a part of the National School Lunch Program, who say childrens education money shouldn't have to be compromised to feed children well. First Lady, Michelle Obama, supports the "Chefs Move into Schools" program to help educate children about nutrition. The mother working on this project is happy to have an apple and to be moving in the right direction for healthier school lunches.
Education is left up to the states to regulate but this article shows how the federal government gets involved. They provide grants and money to schools for not only lumches but educational needs as well, even though the states are left to deal with education regulations, they cannot do it on their own. Which is shown in this article.
I believe the government needs to help schools more. Children are obese and over weight partly because of what is being served at school. The mother in this article is trying her best to bring healthier alternatives to schools and i applaud her for her efforts. If only every school district had the same motivations. All the programs like the first lady's and others are wonderful, they are very much so needed. But my question is if school lunches don't meet USDA regulations shouldn't the government be more involved? They are the one's who implement these regulations. Over all this article is very inspiring and i believe it would be good for our school district to read this article and make some changes.
Schools Struggle to Feed Kids Healthy Food
The majority of schools across the United States are held responsible for the obesity increase in children. Most schools are not meeting USDA regulations with their lunches because of the expenses. However, education money should not have to be compromised to feed children well.
ReplyDeleteWe need more mothers like the one described in San Francisco. If only our parents had to eat what we eat everyday, they would then understand. Some children choose to just not eat all together, while others choose to eat too much. Mainly, the worse thing about this situation is some children only see food at school, while at home there is not much provided due to their financial standing.
Many of Allison's thoughts in her opinion paragragh make outstanding points. Especially, "If lunches do not meet USDA regulations shouldn't the government be more involved?" If the government is the one making these regulations why are they not reacting upon the problems occurring?
Our school system is in great need of this mother to come help our lunch menu. As a student's perspective all I see everyday in the lunch room is unnecessary calories being pilled onto trays. Out of at least thirty to forty items, there may be one or two descent choices. If I forget my lunch, I might as well forget about having lunch that day. Bringing in healthy foods and monitoring kid's weight would be an interesting experiment to see if extra weight is lost, maintained, or continues to increase.