Tight budgets make serving healthier foods challenging. School food programs also depend on income from students who often pay for the food they eat. This amount must cover the food, as well as any labor, equipment, electricity, and other costs. Participating schools receive approximately $1.30 to spend for each child. Meals must meet nutritional standards based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The National School Lunch Program provides low-cost or free school lunches to 31 million students at more than 100,000 public and private schools per day. In America, midday meals have been a fixture in education for more than 70 years.Ī variety of factors contribute to the school lunches in the U.S. Many countries around the world serve school lunch for students. Ocean Robbins Why Are School Lunches in America Unhealthy? /DebbiSmirnoff

Parents, educators, students, and everyone can take action to help students have access to healthier foods.Īs Ocean Robbins says in his upcoming book 31-Day Food Revolution, “ As long as tens of millions of families depend on school meals for a fundamental part of daily nutrition, we all have a stake in making them healthier.”Īs long as tens of millions of families depend on school meals for a fundamental part of daily nutrition, we all have a stake in making them healthier. Programs exist to help improve food at schools, and some schools are taking bold, inspiring steps. But they also offer an abundance of factory-farmed animal products and heavily processed foods, like corn dogs, tater tots, and cheese pizza. Most menus now include more whole grains and more fruit and vegetable options and less salt. were French fries.Īlthough America’s school lunches have improved since Congress strengthened the standards for the national school lunch program in 2010, they have a long way to go. And according to the book Lunch Lessons, almost half the vegetables eaten by most children aged 2 to 19 in the U.S.

schools wouldn’t meet the quality or safety standards of fast-food restaurants. In the U.S., school lunches have a terrible reputation.Ī 2009 investigation by USA Today found that meat served in U.S. In fact, school meals can have tremendous impacts on the next generation, the future of a country, and maybe even the future of our world. School lunch matters - for better learning and academic performance, for improved behavior and performance at school, for the overall health of kids, and much more. Learn why school lunches in America have a terrible reputation and how you can help make a difference. Debates about school lunch have been going on for more than a century.

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