LINK I know people complain about the "nanny state" but if my taxes are going to subsidize school lunches it should be for healthy food. We have a huge problem with childhood obesity in this country. Serving kids french fries and pizza isn't going to help.
Let pizza and French fries stay with one caveat: The kids have to pay full bore for those items or others of the same ilk.
Our tax dollars should pay for nutrition to keep our kids healthy, not garbage that will give them diabetes just because a couple of corporations have the inside track on supplying said garbage. Unless you like fat kids, higher health costs and more disabilities for SSI to pay for.
We discussed this in my biology class this term. The pizza and junk food is not part of the federally subsidized food program. The food that comes from the Feds is actually made back east and is shipped out here where it is warmed up for serving. The pizza and other junk food is actually brought in by the local schools. I had heard of McDonalds and Pizza Hut with actual locations in schools. I don't know if that's true. The school system is whoring itself out to major vendors to try to get some extra funds.
For the kids who have no way of having a lunch brought from home, we should provide them with food. But it's pretty sad and telling that we (collective) don't give a shit what they eat just as long as we can act like we do something positive for schools. I'm not saying that about any of us, but the country as a whole. We're full of hot air when it comes to this.
Some kids don't eat at home, making the obligation to serve something decent, if something is being served at all, that much more important.
No. Last I checked, that's the parents job. But unfortunatly there are way to many horrible parents who dont give a shit what their kids eat.
"Junk food" doesn't directly come from the USDA but it is part of the subsidized school lunch program. The USDA directly offers "entitlement foods" like beef, cheese and vegetables at a discount. http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/lunch/aboutlunch/NSLPFactSheet.pdf So by counting pizza and french fries as vegetables the USDA allows schools to serve not so healthy foods to kids on the taxpayers bill There is a great book (and latter a movie) called "Fast Food Nation" about this. Schools were also signing contracts with Coke or Pepsi to provide those drinks in vending machines and served at school events. There's a story about a boy being disciplined for wearing a Pepsi T-shirt at school with an exclusive contract with coke.
