Healthier School Lunches

703 Words3 Pages

When Barack Obama took the presidential office, his wife Michelle made it her First Lady initiative to work with school aged children. Part of this initiative included a program called My Plate to help make school lunches healthier by ridding them of unhealthy foods like pizza and brownies, and replacing them with healthier fruits, vegetables, and grains. Most school systems throughout the country have put this initiative into place, but some have met backlash from students as they have gotten rid of popular student dishes. School systems need to start healthier school lunch initiatives, even in the heat of student backlash, because they provide needed nutrition to students, they give parents a feeling of security, and they help student academic …show more content…

With old school lunches many meals did not provide students with the proper amounts of protein, fruits, and vegetables since they mainly consisted of foods such as pizza, macaroni and cheese, and grilled cheese. All of these popular foods were filled with unnecessary fats, oils, and carbs that students did not need in their daily diets. New school lunches will help provide all students with necessary vitamins and minerals into their diet such as Vitamin D and K through popular vegetables and fruits. Along with the general population of students, a new healthier lunch will majorly benefit the low-income students, as most school systems give these students a free or price-reduced lunch. Since for some of these students, it is their only whole meal of the day it is important for them to have a proper meal. However, the old school lunches did not give the students this option. With a new, healthier school lunch these students can now have a nutritious, filling meal at …show more content…

Students tend to take lessons they learn in grade school with them for their whole life such as sharing and their numbers. This tactic is also very important when it comes to school lunches. Students are making habits that they will keep for the rest of their life, this means that their lunch habits will also stick with them for the rest of their life. With unhealthy school lunches students are being taught that foods such as pizza, brownies, and cupcakes are appropriate eating choices for the rest of their life, whereas in reality these foods provide no needed nutrition for students. With implementing a new healthier lunch schools will be teaching the students healthier eating habits for the rest of their lives. Changing the students’ lunch from a pizza to a healthy salad will help students make better food choices throughout their life preventing diseases such as