School Lunches Case Study

“The USDA says 1 million fewer students nationwide are eating federal school lunches…”(1M).The nutritional standards enacted by congress in 2012 were established to promote healthy food choices that included all the major food groups. The intent was also to decrease calories in order to combat the rise of obesity in children. Within the guidelines, students in grades 9-12, for example would have a lunch tray that was”... 750-850 calories, which contained less than ten percent saturated fats, less than 740 mg of sodium, no trans-fat,... whole grains, a selection of fresh fruits and vegetables, and skim or 1% milk…”( School ). These stringent regulations are causing more problems that they are helping, The nutritional guidelines of the National …show more content…
In order to meet the guidelines, portion sizes had to be cut which leaves many students hungry. Secondly, a so-called healthy food, such as low-fat cheese pizza on whole grain crust, tastes more like cardboard than pizza. Therefore, many students stop eating the school lunch. Last, the cost of a school lunch has risen. Those students who have to pay full price have decided to stop paying for a meal they do not like and start bringing lunch from home, going without anything to eat, or eating at a local fast food place if open campus is allowed. While some students do not have any other option but to eat the school lunch, it is clear that many others are choosing other …show more content…
School meal programs are reimbursed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for each meal served. For the 2014-2015 school year, “...free meals receive $2.98, reduced price meals receive $2.58, and paid meals get $0.28 “ (School Meal Trends ). A different rate is applied to the school breakfast program. Many districts have complained the reimbursement rates have not risen enough to offset the rise in cost of food. Therefore, school food budgets are often in debt. In addition, districts nationwide have had to buy additional kitchen equipment to comply with the rules. These range from large appliances down to new spoons and ladles to match the serving requirements. Lastly, to help pay for the additional costs, districts across the nation have had to raise the price of a paid meal. While this may not affect those receiving free lunches, and only mildly affect those receiving reduced lunches, it does greatly affect the estimated 8.7 million students who pay full price. If students or their parents decide to stop purchasing school lunches, the districts will still have financial