I’m Not Eating That

I have to admit, I am very fortunate that I genuinely enjoyed my high school cafeteria food. Yes, I know to some people that this sounds absolutely insane. How could I enjoy eating cardboard pizza, mystery meat sandwiches, and soggy fruits and vegetables? The best answer I can give is that I went to a private catholic school, and after doing a lot of research, I have found a great divide between lunch programs among schools. After coming to college, my eyes were opened to a lot of different high school experiences. Some people went to public schools, some went to private, and some went to boarding. The one thing I have noticed is that the lunch experiences are very different between these types of schools. I even did a survey amongst 10 of my friends and only one of them enjoyed their lunch, and this person also went to a private school while the rest attended public schools. This sparked my curiosity regarding what funding for school lunches looks like, and why some people have such bad lunch experiences while other people do not.
Compared to other countries around the world, the United States lunch system has a terrible reputation. It turns out that a 2009 investigation by USA Today found that the meat that is served in most schools across the country wouldn’t meet the quality or safety standards of fast-food restaurants. Even more shocking is that a book by the name Lunch Lesson, said that almost half the vegetables eaten by children from the ages of 2 to 19 was French fries. So not only is the quality of most cafeteria food in public schools going down, but the nutrition aspect is also lacking. The National School Lunch Program is who is in charge of all school lunches, and according to their guidelines, each public school is given an average of $1.30 to feed each child. What is even worse is that this amount also needs to cover the labor, electricity, and equipment needed to prepare the food.

One major step was made following that 2009 investigation. While it may not have tackled every issue that public school cafeterias are facing, it definitely helped shine a light on the food being served. In 2010, Michelle Obama launched her campaign: Lets Move! This helped by implementing various different strategies such as updating child nutrition policies. What this does is helps to ensure access to healthy and affordable food in schools across the country. As I mentioned before, compared to the rest of the world the American lunch system looks pathetic. For instance, in France, some school children as young as 4-5 years old are getting a full 5 course meal served to them at school that is comprised of fresh ingredients and nutritional options. This YouTube video does a great job of depicting how serious the lunch program is in France. Overall, the United States has some serious problems in some school lunch programs across the country and the issue needs to be resolved.