Implementing Healthy School Lunches

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There needs to be some sort of regulation imposed on school lunches, in order to fight the growing obesity epidemic. Many people disagree with this statement, and have their own thoughts on the matter. The National School Lunch Act was passed in 1946 by President Harry Truman. All over the country, school districts joined lunch programs designed to feed children at free or reduced prices. In doing so, school districts had to follow specific guidelines that these programs required. Over the years, these standards have changed increasingly in order to provide children optimal nutrition. While many districts have fully taken advantage and successfully made the turn for the better, others struggle or are taking a little more time in implementing successful changes. Due to the inconsistencies amongst lunch programs in the United States, many point their fingers at the government. Not only did the National School Lunch Program provide lunch at free or reduced cost, it also provided enough food supply, maintenance and operation all over the country. It took a long time for the Act to pass because of the cost to run such a new program. Though it took a long time, Congress found the need to establish a lunch program with a set legislative foundation. Without such a foundation, school districts would be operating their own school lunch programs on a year to year basis. Some of the requirements and guidelines programs entailed not only meant feeding children at free or reduced cost, but also following minimum nutritional requirements, operate on a non-profit basis, and maintain proper records of all receipts and forward them to the State Agency.

Throughout the years, nutritional requirements have changed. The Hunger-Free Kids Act is an...

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Rodriguez, Marybel. "Dade School Cafeteria Workers Hit The Books For Healthier Food." CBS Miami. CBS Local Media, 4 July 2011. Web. 08 Mar. 2014.

"School Lunch Pages." School Lunch Pages. The Feingold Association of the United States, 2013. Web. 19 May 2014.

Seaman, Andrew. "Strict School Lunch Standards Tied to Healthy Weight." Chicago Tribune 8 Apr. 2013. Print.

Self, Brooke. "HUSD Lunch Workers: Food Being Wasted." Victorville Daily Press. Freedom Communication, 16 Oct. 2013. Web. 09 Mar. 2014.

Yuck: A 4th Grader's Short Documentary About School Lunch. Dir. Zachary Maxwell. Perf. Zachary Maxwell and Lucas Maxwell. Yuckmovie.com. Zachary Maxwell. Web. 11 Mar. 2014.

Zhao, Emmeline. "School Lunch Fight: Jon Stewart Takes On Battle Over Michelle Obama's Healthy School Meals." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 28 Sept. 2012. Web. 19 May 2014.

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