School Lunch Program Research Paper

INTRODUCTION

Ask any nutritionist, pediatrician, dietitian, surgeon, or even a gastroenterologist: what you eat affects your health. There is an old adage that states, “you are what you eat,” which for some is a cause of concern. As society understands more about the nutritional and dietary needs that affect people and their performance in life, many have attempted to reform dietary standards and provide adequate nutrition to young people especially. The National School Lunch Program, according to the USDA, is a, “federally assisted program,” that provides, “nutritionally balanced, low-cost… lunches to children” (“The National School Lunch Program”). The NSLP was created in 1946 when President Harry S. Truman signed the National School Lunch

It was later reformed under the administration of President Barack Obama when the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 which imposed new nutritional standards for the NSLP and other related programs (“Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act”). However, the NSLP is seriously flawed despite its benevolent purpose. Food quality and variety are exceedingly poor in many schools across the country, and an argument could be made that it is in part due to a lack of funding to pay for stricter standards on food. Regardless of origin though, the horrendous quality of school lunches and a lack of variety alienate many children and adolescents who would otherwise participate in the NSLP and even pose some health hazards in certain cases. For this reason, regulations that govern the National School Lunch Program must be radically altered to control food grade, greater funding must be provided, and the sourcing of food must be

These issues plague the National School Lunch Program as if they were a disease, and like a disease, they have symptoms that signify the issue: wasted food, a lack of fresh food, and limited or unappealing options. The issue of quality may be attributed to ingredients and the method in which the food that students eat is prepared. A disturbing illustration to that affect, recounted by current East Kentwood student Dominique Tran, was featured prominently in an odd occurrence in a middle school lunchroom. Via some form of tomfoolery or another, a rectangular prism of a rather dry gelatinous substance that was supposedly jello was launched into the air with great velocity. Upon impact with the ceiling, it adhered to the surface and failed to return to the table for quite some time. And this was not an isolated incident. For the sake of scientific experimentation, another person launched some pasta at the ceiling, and it to became stuck. However, unlike the jello, it never came down. Both of these disturbing occurrences called into question the sort of ingredients and methods of preparation that could lead to such a sticky situation. Furthermore, these issues must be assumed to be pervasive due to the limited funding for the program; for each lunch, schools receive $2.68, which is entirely inadequate for covering both the cost of