Sickening School Food

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Over the last few decades, Americans have had an amassing amount of health problems. Not only are health issues becoming more of a concern regarding adults, but also the number of children with poor health is on the rise. It has become such an immense issue over the past few years that the First Lady, Michelle Obama, has taken it upon herself and made a movement to improve the health of adolescents. While there are many reasons for the growth of health problems, a major provider is schools and the substandard food that they serve to the children. Thus, the poor quality of lunches is deleterious and deplorable because it introduces cheap, deficient diet habits, contributes to obesity at a young age, and lacks essential nutritional aspects. To begin, school meals do not set a solid foundation for children regarding the diet habits they will have for the rest of their lives. For example, they are teaching kids that greasy pizza and corn dogs are a part of a healthy, nutritious diet. One student says, “We think school lunches are healthy because they have all these posters in the cafeteria telling us to eat healthy food and be active; we think the school is doing their part by serving us healthy food too, but they are not” (Jimenez). Not only do children think that this cheap food is a good choice, but schools also think they are benefiting because of how much money they conserve. Most school districts in America spend less than $150 on food to feed a child for the entire 180-day school year. Less than $1 per day to feed our children food that is supposed to nourish and care for them, and this [is] in the setting of "education." (Cooper 2010). Consequently, schools are jamming students’ brains with fictitious information, and scho... ... middle of paper ... ...- School Edition. Web. 31 Mar. 2014. Johnson, Cara M., et al. "Comparison Of Nutrient Content And Cost Of Home-Packed Lunches To Reimbursable School Lunch Nutrient Standards And Prices." Journal Of Child Nutrition & Management 33.2 (2009): ERIC. Web. 6 Apr. 2014. "Unhealthy Foods Bulk Of School Vending Machine Choices." Nation's Health 34.5 (2004): 7. MAS Ultra - School Edition. Web. 6 Apr. 2014. Kluger, JeffreyCaplan, JeremyKauffman, ElisabethRessner, JeffreyRubiner, BetsyTumulty, Karen. "How Bill Put The Fizz In The Fight Against Fat." Time International (Canada Edition) 167.20 (2006): 16. MAS Ultra - School Edition. Web. 6 Apr. 2014. Newman, Constance, et al. "Meeting Total Fat Requirements For School Lunches: Influence Of School Policies And Characteristics. Economic Research Report Number 87." US Department Of Agriculture (2009): ERIC. Web. 6 Apr. 2014.

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