Persuasive Essay About Japanese Lunch Program

Japanese Lunch Programs Surpass the U.S. on Every Level As most students know, lunch is usually an exciting break from class only to be disappointed by school lunch. Over the past ten years, with the help of Michelle Obama, the National School Lunch Program’s Hunger-Free Kids Act has been implementing stronger regulations and lunches that fit into a 750-850 calorie range for high schoolers (United States). The regulations on calories nutrition have forced agri-food companies to reformulate the processed food served to students. All of the controversial changes to the United States Lunch Program leads people to show compunction as to why the United States has not found an acceptable balance that suits all school children. Another option is to adopt the lunch program of another country that has had success. One such program, as demonstrated by Japanese schools, is loved by the government, students, and parents. The United States should adopt the Japanese lunch program because it is healthy, promotes local businesses, and is appealing. …show more content…
All of the food is fresh because it is locally grown. Unlike the United States where children can bring in any type of food they want, Japanese students are divested of the ability to bring food from home. Countless schools even have farms, where students grow the vegetables and fruit that will be used for lunch in the future. The diet includes rice, vegetables, fish, and soups. Instead of lunch being specifically about food, it is also a time for children to learn about how to live a healthy lifestyle. All Japanese schools have a nutritionist that creates the lunch menus, along with teaches the students how to cook healthy meals (Hager, Mary). To demonstrate the health effects, Japan’s child obesity rate has gone down every year for 6 consecutive years. Additionally, schools have eliminated the problem of malnutrition from