Shelby Kester

    The quality of school lunches have always been a hot topic of discussion among the student body and the cafeteria workers. The students think that the lunches are very well prepared for the most part, but that the choices are unhealthy. For example, with main entree choices of chili cheese fries, nachos, and bacon cheeseburgers, how are we supposed to get the proper nutrients we need? The nutrition requirements from the USDA (U.S Department of Agriculture), state that no more than 30 percent of the meal’s calories can come from fat, less than 10 percent of the meal’s calories may come from saturated fat, and the meals must provide one-third of the Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA) of protein, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, iron, calcium and calories. President Obama’s chef is one of many experts that feel as though these nutrition guidelines are out of date and the NSLP menus (National School Lunch Program) aren’t any healthier than eating fast food and that the meals are high in fat and fructose corn syrup.

      Eating meals such as these takes its toll mentally and physically. It doesn't assist us with our academic performance and contributes to health and weight problems. According to the Journal of Health Care, 13,680 elementary aged students were individually administered reading and math assessments. The results of these tests concluded that overweight children had significantly lower math and reading test scores compared to non overweight children. To correct this, a pilot study titled HOPS (Healthier Options for Public Schoolchildren) attempts to prevent elementary-aged obesity by modifying dietary offerings. The results indicated statistically significant improvements in BMI, blood pressure and academic scores.   They concluded that by changing the regulated school menu to a healthier alternative, improvements in health and academic performance will be highly evident.  Tyler Wallace (12) states, “Aside from oriental day, chicken tenders, and the frozen Uncrustables, the school lunches seem under par. From a healthy standpoint, they definitely aren’t where they should be.”   The cafeteria workers strongly disagree. “I think they are very good. The only unhealthy option is french fries, but you guys like those. We aren’t to blame for weight gain and other issues because we give students the appropriate servings and provide healthier alternatives such as the boxed lunches and fruit boxes,” stated Mrs. Brantley.

    Although there are boxed lunches as an alternate choice, most students don’t choose them because they are poorly prepared. A boxed lunch that consists of an Uncrustable and a bag of chips does not constitute a full lunch. The chicken salads also get complaints because of the lack of chicken and the quality of the lettuce. I think that with the research and recent studies, if the lunches were altered to healthier options, it would benefit our student body tremendously.