By Cassie Smith
The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kid Act was passed on December 2nd, 2010. 4.5 billions dollars was set aside to give schools money for lunches. It also set forth a standard for nutritional values in the schools.
Not only does the bill update nutrition but it also makes breakfasts and lunches readily available to all students. The bill is the first of its kind in thirty years. It is expected to be signed into law by President Obama.
The bill includes “farm-to-cafeteria” programs. It will provide more nutrition and help the local community.
Certain students bring their lunches to avoid the food they are offered in the school cafeteria.
“I bring my lunch when I have a chance,” sophomore Elizabeth Hopkins said. “The school food does taste good but it is so unhealthy and after an hour of eating it, I feel sick.”
The school lunch seems to cause concern. Some do not see there is any kind of health value in them.
“I feel that the sandwiches are either under cooked or overcooked. There is little to no healthy food,” sophomore Kierra Lanier said.
Food usually consists of three main items: chicken, fries, juice and/or milk. Some students want more diversity.
“I bought lunch the first week of school, but I started to notice that the food was the same every day. I like variety in my choices,” sophomore Ashley Wilkes said.
Students are often become uninterested in the same types of foods.
“There are not a lot of options at lunch. There is salad, cheese pizza, or sides. It would be nice to see something simple like a grilled cheese sandwich. Having salads every day can get pretty boring,” junior Helen Kendall said.
In health and physical education classes, students are taught to make healthy food choices.
“Prince George High School needs to rethink the lunch menu. They enforce Physical education classes and exercise, yet they feed us chicken nuggets and greasy fries every day,” sophomore Kayla Crookshanks said.
Knowing what nutrients are needed, students can decide to eat the food or not.
“The school food is the unhealthiest food in my opinion. We are always told to eat healthy but eating school food is not teaching us good habits,” sophomore Katelynn Fowler said.
Not only do the chicken nuggets, sandwiches, cheeseburgers, and fries seem to be a problem, but vegetarian students do not have many options.
“The food is not very good. I am a vegetarian and it is very hard to order lunch at school. Even the salads have meat on them,” sophomore Taylor Carpenter said.
Regardless to what many people may think, vegetarian diets can easily meet all of the recommendations for nutrients. They can obtain protein mainly by plant-based foods.
Some are beans, nuts, and soy products (tofu, tempeh, veggie burgers), milk products and possibly eggs instead of meats.
Menu changes could take place to please the vegetarian students and meet their nutritional needs. They could offer veggie burgers, salads made to where students choose the toppings, and various types of fresh fruits.
In the next school year the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kid Act will be in affect if signed by Obama. The issues of variety and nutrition will be addressed and solved in the bill.
The bill provides free and reduced lunches to a larger percentage of students. This mean all students will receiver better nutrition, local produce, and close to no junk food.
haley matheny • Mar 11, 2011 at 8:19 pm
This is a great article, I agree completely with it. The school lunches are not healthy at all and im very happy congress is attempting to do something about it.
Jessica Taylor • Mar 10, 2011 at 8:03 pm
I have not bought lunch since elementary school because I hate the school food. You can just look at it and tell that it is unhealthy. It is so greasy. Not to mention, I hate the fact that it contradicts what we are taught in health class.
Carrie Young • Mar 10, 2011 at 3:40 pm
I think it’s great that people are trying to make school lunches more nutritious. The majority of students buy lunch at school, so by making this change, it’s affecting a lot more students than you may think. I bring my lunch, but now that lunch is supposed to be healthier, I may buy my lunch more often.
Evan May • Jan 14, 2011 at 9:32 pm
I like that congress has finally done something about the school lunches. In our country we have one of the highest obesity rates and we need to do something about it. By passing this bill, the youth of America will learn to make healthier choices and hopefully end up living long healthy lives.
Tessa Allen • Jan 14, 2011 at 9:10 pm
I like the idea of this bill but I wonder about whether or not the follow through will match up to our expectations. The school will always have to think about budget first so I wonder how much of that government funding will actually trickle down to PGHS and if it doesn’t then how much improvement we will actually see, or the lack thereof.
Diana O. • Jan 14, 2011 at 9:01 am
I like the fact Congress is taking the proper steps to helping the problem of obesity among teens. School lunch has always been an issue. I cannot lie that I like the French fries at school but we should take it upon ourselves to want to be healthier.
rachel waymack • Jan 13, 2011 at 4:09 pm
The school food’s nutritous value has always been an issue and it has been been pretty hypocritical of schools to teach eating healthy in health classes and then turn around and sell very unhealthy food. So I’m glad to see something is being done to bring nutrition and variety to the school cafeteria.
Raya Girard • Jan 12, 2011 at 4:35 pm
I think that if there was food that actually had to be prepared instead of just opened and put in an oven, our food would be more nutritious and we would have more variety. A baked potato with toppings would be a nice treat every once in a while. also if we could get some meat that was not breaded it would be nice. Even like a Subway day could be healthier. the farm to cafeteria is a great idea. Fresh vegetables alone would make a huge difference.
Madison Guidry • Jan 11, 2011 at 6:47 pm
I think it is great that congress is doign something about our school food. It is greasy, left over, and disgusting. Our schools teach us to be healthy but expect us to eat old fries soaked in grease. School lunch is not cheap either, they are over charging students to live an unhealthy lifestyle.
Unique Larry • Jan 2, 2011 at 5:47 pm
I can not say that I don’t enjoy my french fries but I feel that there should be more of a variety in what we as students can consume. Having nuggets and fries everyday,It gets old mighty fast. I am happy that they have recognized that vegitarians and vegans do not really have choices here. Hopefully everyone will learn to make better choices when it comes to their eating habits.
Jessica Taylor • Jan 2, 2011 at 2:35 pm
It is plain and simple, school food is gross. I have brought my lunch everyday for as long as I can remember. I will admit that I do like the fries, but I know that they are extremely unhealthy so I do not eat them very often.
Malikah Williams • Dec 17, 2010 at 7:42 pm
School food has always been an issue. I think that it is great that something is finally being done. Hopefully this will promote a healthier America.
Trey Carter • Dec 17, 2010 at 11:52 am
I’m a tad skeptical about our school lunch. There is absolutely no since of diversity in the food. I know we have to have less expensive food to accommodate for everyone, but at the same time we should have a mixture. By all means, some of the students eat a spicy chicken sandwich with fries everyday, we could use a switch up. The school is going to end up losing money because more people are going to start bringing packed lunches from home.
Alex Martinez • Dec 17, 2010 at 8:53 am
I can’t say i’m not satisfied with my spicy chicken sandwich and salty fries every day from the school cafeteria, because they sure do taste good, but I guess I could benefit from the availability of healthier food. The bill looks good on paper, but I wonder how well it can actually be executed as a law. I think I’ll be out of school before any noticeable changes occur at PGHS, but I can ask my children how their school food is.
Rachel Arnold • Dec 15, 2010 at 3:08 pm
I bought my lunch today for the first time in a few weeks and it quickly reminded me why I bring my lunch everyday. I’m excited to see the changes for next year. It’s just sad that us juniors will only have one year to enjoy it.
Rachel Waymack • Dec 15, 2010 at 2:28 pm
Wow, I had no idea it had been so long since a bill about school food has come about- that could definitly be a problem, a lot has been figured out or changed in 30 years, so good job finding that out.