Middle School Food Options

What do students eat in middle school every day? Would you be surprised if it was very
unhealthy? Im here today to inform you of what your kid should be eating and what your kid is
probably eating. As most people know school lunches arent the healthiest thing, and we are
here to tell you that these lunches have a big impact on their lives. 50% of the kids daily calories
are consumed during school lunches (The State of Obesity). School
lunches are usually not healthy. Im going to explain my experiences with
middle school lunches with you and also try to compare them to what the
Government recommends (The State of Obesity).
My experience with middle school lunches were not up to par. I attended Northern
Lebanon Middle School when I was in 7th and 8th grade. The lunches at this facility were poor in
nutritional value. You didnt have many options to choose from either; it was either the main
meal, or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. You also had the option of packing your own lunch,
but not many students did that. This really limits students from eating healthy during school.
Luckily I was a heavily active teenager playing soccer, indoor, and outdoor track so I really
never needed to watch what I ate. Other kids were a different story, they werent active and due
to the poor lunches would gain weight and in some cases became obese. My middle school rarely
had fresh vegetables and fruits. Instead, they have huge bulk cans of canned fruits and vegetables
and usually glazed them in some sugar coating to mask the natural taste of them which brought
down the nutritional value. I can truly say that my school took shortcuts for getting as much food
as they could for as little money as they could. This meant that they were buying cheap
unhealthy food to give to their students.

Im going to compare my middle school to The National School Lunch Meal Pattern. The
National School Lunch Meal pattern entails that you must have at least one cup of milk a day
which is usually met by the one carton of milk given to you as
part of your lunch (Nutrition Standards for). It also requires
of a cup of vegetables which was sometimes met, and other
times there were no vegetables available. The Meal Pattern tells
you that each student should have cup of fruits, but like
vegetables they werent always available. Students should also be fed one ounce of grains a day,
but grain was rarely an option at my former school. A typical middle school lunch these days
could consist of a small carton of milk, a main dish like pizza, pasta, or like this photo, taco meat
and tortilla chips. Then some schools are lucky to have vegetables or even fruit (National School
Lunch Program). Students mental, and physical health also play a role in this situation. Some
kids that are stressed or under a lot of pressure could maybe skip lunch. Kids that get bullied
might also skip lunch or even eat more than they should due to high stress levels.
Do all schools go by these nutritional guidelines? As of 2014, 86% of schools in the
United States meet the updated nutrition standards. 86% seems like a lot, but knowing there are
over 57,000 middle schools in the United States, that means 8,000 schools dont meet the
requirements for the nutrition standard (National Center for Education Statistics) That number is
far too high. Its estimated that 4 million middle school students are forced to eat an unhealthy
meal if they do not pack their lunch. Another huge factor is the unhealthy school lunch problem
is soda. Soda has so much sugar and calories that even one bottle can have a big effect on you.
Many schools offer soda as their drink because the kids enjoy the taste over milk. Milk has many

nutritional benefits including high amounts of protein to build strong muscles, and lots of
calcium which is key to building stronger bones. Soda has no nutritional value at all.
In conclusion middle school lunches are no joking matter. Since school lunches account
for 50% of the childrens daily calorie intake, its a big concern. Many people, including
Michelle Obama are trying their hardest to make school lunches as
healthy as they can be, but healthy food costs more money. Not all
school districts can afford all of this healthy food
which forces them to buy cheap unhealthy food
(Healthy Schools) The government assists all public schools, but for the
schools in low-income areas are the schools that need the most help and get
the same help as a high-income school districts. Money runs the world and as we can see it also
runs the school lunch programs. It is a shame that healthy food costs much more than unhealthy
food, but thats the world we live in today. These middle school students need to realize how
important it is to eat healthy at this stage of their life. This is where they grow the most, this is
when they hit puberty, and these are usually the years that shape them into the students they will
be for the rest of their lives. Its very important to have a concept of what non nutritional food
can do to you. They need to be informed of this before it is too late to turn everything around.

Bibliography
Let's Move." Healthy Schools. N.p., Jan. 2015. Web. 9 Feb. 2015.
"National School Lunch Program (NSLP)." National School Lunch Program (NSLP). N.p., 10
Dec. 2014. Web. 9 Feb. 2015.
"School Meals." Nutrition Standards for. N.p., 10 Feb. 2015. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.
"Fast Facts." National Center for Education Statistics. N.p., May 2014. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.
"School Foods and Beverages." : The State of Obesity. N.p., Mar. 2014. Web. 9 Feb. 2015.