Should the Government Impose Restrictions on Cafeteria Foods?
Is society aware of the government’s capability to impose restrictions on the foods that primary and secondary school students are eating? What foods do students most enjoy eating for lunch and are these foods allowed to be served in their school cafeterias? The government is finding ways to improve the cafeteria food so that it is healthier for the consumers. These improvements will result in healthier and more wholesome lunches and breakfasts across the country. Although many do not think of healthy, nutritious foods as tasty or delicious, the government should impose restrictions on the foods served in cafeterias because they choose foods that are nutritious for children, and
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The United States Department of Agriculture did research to determine which foods students should be eating while at school to get their proper nutrition. According to the USDA, school lunches for elementary schools should be required to haves less than 1230 mg of sodium (Jalonick). Nutritious foods are said to be fruits, whole grains, dairy products, and vegetables. The government and schools are having trouble to incorporate these foods into meals that children will enjoy. Children not having the proper nutrition will lead to numerous health problems later on in …show more content…
Teaching students that their diet should consist of whole grains, fat free or low fat, reduced sodium, saturated fat, and trans-fat might reduce the need for the government to impose restrictions on cafeteria foods.
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Works Cited
Jalonick, Mary Clark. “Government Relaxes Nutrition Standards for School Lunches”. PBS. Associated Press. 1 May. 2017. Web.10 Jan. 2018.
Hasan, Aalia. “Should Government Impose Restrictions on What Kinds of Foods Can Be Served in School Cafeterias”. 2017. Web.
Leonard, Kimberly. “The Great Government Takeover.” USANEWS. The Report. 5 Jan. 2018.
Park, Madison. “USDA issues new rules for school meals.”CNN. 25 Jan. 2012. Web. !7 Jan. 2018.
Vilslack, Tom. “Why Healthy School Meals Matter.” Health. Health. 03 May. 2013. Web. 19 Jan.
Ariana Cha combats a seriously pressing topic in her writing. While many articles are very quick to bash the school lunch program, while this article can enforce it. Cha is supporting the most common argument with the school lunch program, nutritional content. Cha is stating that the nutrients are offered, but are not being accepted by the students. The audience intended for this reading is, literally, anybody that disagrees with the provided meals.
The article “The Real Problem With Lunch” written by Bettina Elias Siegel is about the everlasting struggle of replacing unhealthy American public school lunches with better alternatives. She’s reaching out to parents, students, school representatives, and other influential people to change how American society views junk food, in hope that it will affect choices children make about lunches at school. How convincing is Siegel’s argument overall? Although she doesn’t fully address the strides made already by public schools to better their lunches, she strategically balances her use of argumentative tools: pathos, ethos, and logos. She uses statistics, facts, and empathy to urge her point of bettering lunches for children.
(Pollan 197-198) Eating locally sustained food provides not only multiple health benefits to our bodies such as vitamins and minerals, but the animals are also eating what they were meant to which allows for a healthier cow, therefore a healthier meal we eat. Although most schools do try to offer healthier options, kids do not have to take them and would rather take the chip bag sitting next to the apple, for instance, “Schools must offer dairy, grains, fruits, and vegetables, but there are no programs to make sure that children are eating them.... Unhealthy foods usually lack the nutrients that children need to stay energized and focus throughout the rest of the day.
During President Nixon’s term he strengthened the school lunch subsidy program up to 25 million children. Subsidies were given to school districts to make sure that every child was fed at lunch time. Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan both made cuts into the National School Lunch Act that led to school districts having less money to spend on lunches. This was in line with their party’s political stance which was to lessen the central government. The lower amount of money led to a decrease in nutritious food and an increase in processed food meaning higher caloric and sodium intake for children across the
Though new school lunch organizations provide a healthier, more proficient learning environment, they also promote realms of controversy over student meals. However, these conflicts are futile in comparison to constant concerns over global health issues, including obesity, anorexia, and even
This also shows that the government is only thinking about the children being healthy which is fine, but they also they need to think about how the children feel. Therefore, the government has to think about what the children want and what they want to eat.
Research shows that children eat more without realizing when they are served larger amounts. Vegetable and fruit intake is dwindling down in youth diets. French fries are the most common “vegetable” that children eat making up twenty-five percent of their intake. Fruit juices are 40% of the fruit intake for children. Because of the shift in cultural norms, there are more unhealthy foods at convenience versus the healthy food that used to be found in many
First, if the school eliminates the foods students' like then some might stop buying lunches from the
Should School Lunches Change For a long time now people have been arguing over whether or not to change up the restrictions to the lunches served in schools across America. Many different arguments have come up in recent years. School officials should not change up the school lunches because some people need more food than others, they should not be able to tell them what they can and can't eat, and finally because it will take lots of time and money to make the switch. The first reason schools should not put a limit on school lunches because some students need more food than others.
Some schools have gone down over the calorie amount they should serve in the meals “High school lunches top out at 850 calories, for middle schoolers it’s 700 calories, and elementary students receive just 650 calories (5)”, the amount of calories of school lunches should be higher, but without students wanting to eat the health program is going to be difficult to get this amounts
In some schools some principals superintendents have made a decision to opt out of the Healthy choice foods and make there own semi-healthy foods that kids like. To reduce waste and bring back students who have opted to pack a lunch or go off campus for fast food, his districts cafeterias have installed stir-fry stations with abundant vegetables so students can have meals made to order. and he’s added spice bars so kids can even the bland. In schools some principals and administrators are starting to take action.
Thirdly, making the school lunch unhealthy is not going to make the child have a healthy lifestyle. Some kids could go to school and have a healthy lunch and then go home and eat an unhealthy dinner. When kids go home and eat they are not thinking about whether the food is healthy or not. All kids want to eat is junk food and candy whether it is at home or school.
Additionally a 2013 study showed in "Applied Economics Perspectives and Policy" found that on an average school day, students who ate school lunch that had more fruits and vegetables than those who did not. School lunches are not nutritious. Recent data shows that while an estimated 30.6 million US students eat school lunches, only 6% of school lunch programs meet the nutritional requirements established by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Although many school across the country are improving what they serve, most are still loaded with fried foods, soda pop and foods that are high in fats and sugars. Department of agriculture works with US government that administers federal programs related to food production and rural life.
It is not difficult to find rotten fruits lurking among a tray of apples and oranges. Due to their appearance, healthy options such as fruit are often discarded. It is the duty of the National School Lunch Program to provide food for students, yet the quality and taste of school lunches requires drastic
School lunches should be nutritional and the meals at home should also be nutritional and balanced. I would say the FDA is trying to create some balance with the snacks. They are making sure that the foods we eat are actually what is promoted. This problem is affecting everyone not just children. Everyone should contribute to making nutrition an important factor in life and we should work together to decrease the amount of