Taking A Look At The National School Lunch Program

Throughout history, there has always been conteversy on the food/ nutrition that is served in schools. Therefore, the effect that reduced cost school lunches has had on public schools is vividly seen through a historical timeline, which people have started to notice and have started to take account for. The amount of clamor and attention this brought made systems finally adhere to the people. The public schools have established reduced lunch programs to insure that all school students have the nutritious and low-cost meals to support health guidelines, and student development. This meant that for a lower cost, students would get more nutrition than they have in previous years. This is especially; needed in our society more than ever, because

Access to proper nutrition can help students maintain psychosocial well-being and reduce aggression. This can have appositive effect on students by avoiding discipline and school suspension.”(Cambellsville University, 1) History even shows that with the proper foods students were able to reach a higher level of academic achievement in core subjects. For instance, “Similarly, a study that analyzed a healthy eating campaign that banned junk food from schools and introduced healthier, freshly prepared school meals found that participating students scored higher on English and science tests than students who did not take part in the campaign”. (Belot and James, 2009, 2) The National School Lunch Program is an exemplary application to student nutrition for the growth of mental and physical positive development for students, “The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is a federally assisted meal program operating in public and nonprofit private schools and residential childcare institutions. It provides nutritionally balanced, low-cost lunches to children each day”. (US Department of Agriculture,

“The main goal of the law was to raise the minimum nutritional standards for public schools lunches served as part of the National School Lunch Program”(Anderson,2) However, in recent years there have been programs that will help advocate for healthier options. Not only are they healthier but, they are also less costly, “National implementation of proposed rigorous competitive food standards that can improve the health of students while supporting local school districts finances” (Long, 1). History has shone us where we have become as students have shown negative attitudes toward the food and because of it have turned to snacks and junks that subsides them for time being. This is an important matter that has to be treated so previous years do not repeat. Instead, there need to be immediate implications or improvements to the food provided by schools. Students depends on their environments nutrients., “We find that in years when a school contracts with a healthy lunch company, students at the school score better on end-of year academic test (Anderson, 3). The school undeniably needs to focus, “School food service directors often must focus on ease of preparation rather than healthy options because they lack both the skilled staff and facilities necessary to do more”. (Grainger,2) This is important to keep in mind because it not only helps