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The Lunch Fix

The Effects that Lunchtime Has on Our Students' Grades
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Contributing Writers: Valeria Colmenares, Samantha Delgadillo, Makenna Iceman, Maci Lechtaler

America feeds its children so we can be successful as a country. Giving kids a good lunch to make sure
they can learn and grow. But, are the lunches they are getting actually nutritious?

“On average, the [National School Lunch Program] NSLP provided low-cost or free lunches to 29.6 million
children each school day in fiscal year (FY) 2019, at a total cost of $14.2 billion” (“National School Lunch
Program”). That is 29.6 million children that are reliant on school meals per day to be able to learn and focus.

It's easy for parents to get upset when their kids' grades are bad, but we have to stop and think of what the cause
of this is. There are so many factors to why a child might be struggling in school; some more examples are their
households, dietary needs, and a very big factor we forget about is lunches at school.

If school systems are being funded to provide great meals to students, why are these meals not nutritious? Many
of these schools aren’t providing healthy eating options or the ones they do offer are neither appetizing nor
fresh. How can we expect our kids to eat these lunches when we, as adults, won’t?

Students' unhealthy eating patterns are negatively affecting their schooling because their needs and what
they are being provided don’t align. Therefore, the schools and parents of every community need to help
make a change.

Suffering Academics

Students aren’t learning to their full potential, and their grades are suffering from their non-nutritional diets. For
instance; "To educate children, you have to feed them well. It's true that children will learn better if they have
better food. If they have nutritious food, they are more active mentally" ("Serving Up Fresh Ideas for School
Lunch”). This school has analyzed their students and have learned that in order for their students to be at their
full learning potential they must eat healthy.

Moreover children may not be getting a good lunch at school they might not be getting the proper diet they need
at home either.

According to the Tribal Nutrition Improvement Act, schools and communities should be helping their students
by reducing the stress of food, “This legislation makes sure that Native students have access to nutritious foods
so they can focus on their education, instead of worrying about their next meal" (Udall). Children that live in
food deserts are being affected academically, because by having to worry about getting food to survive for the
day they are not able to focus on learning. Many of these children either do not go to school because of having
to work to get food or cannot focus and pay attention when they are in class because they are suffering from
hunger.

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Home Lunch vs. School Lunch

For instance, those who bring their own lunch are more likely to be eating unhealthy food, while people who
don’t bring a lunch most likely don’t eat at all. “Schools across the country are offering less healthy lunch
options as they struggle with dwindling supplies, delayed shipments and fewer cafeteria workers”(Ngo).
Schools around the country are struggling to find healthy foods that
children will actually enjoy and eat.

They are also struggling with staff and low on many of the healthy
choices to give out to the students. “Over a 26-year period, obesity
rates have increased in adolescents as well as in elementary school
children”(Campbell). The schools choose to lean more towards
unhealthy foods which are cheaper and no students will complain.
Although, they are still trying to find healthier choices, they are
continuing to serve unhealthy foods to the current students, and it's
affecting them in the long run.

Considering that the schools aren’t providing healthy lunch choices. Parents should step in and pack their
children's lunches with healthy options from home. “If sending your student(s) to school with meals from home
is not a burden for your family, we would encourage this option as a short-term request,'' the note
read”(Campbell). The schools are preferring for students to bring their own lunches, but they aren’t much
healthier when they pack them themselves. They just want their food to look appealing and good to eat. “No
child should ever be hungry. Providing proper sustenance through school food is one of the ways in which we
can give every student an early chance to succeed”(Velazquez). Whereas, bringing lunch from home students
can bring anything and something fast that they can just grab, which is usually unhealthy. They just look for
food that will satisfy their hunger, and not something nutritious and good for them. The students that don’t bring
any lunch all at, should be able to rely on the school to provide a nutrition meal. Meanwhile, a bag of chips,
fruit snacks, and candy is what “lunch” they eat. The students who bring their own food from home, may not be
the smartest choice if they are picking it out themselves.

Is there a Real benefit?

By giving students healthy lunches are they even benefiting at all? It is no good to have healthy lunches if the
kids are still hungry. ”But at least some kids hate it. Their cries of hunger sound like a variant of the old joke
that the food tastes terrible and the portions are way too small” (Conan). If the portions are smaller than they
aren’t getting all the nutrients they need. Students need the number of calories their own bodies need.
Consequently,

They can get nutrients from other foods as well. They get nutrients from milk and other foods that are still high
in fat. For example, "banning flavored milk results in fewer nutrients for kids, more waste in our lunchrooms,
and fewer jobs for our dairy workers”(Brindisi). Why should they not enjoy their lunches and have a good time?
Children should not worry about choosing something healthy to nourish their bodies.

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Are Households The Problem?

Do student households affect their diets and eating habits? Yes, the type of environment that you live in or are
surrounded by has a great impact on your food choices and decisions. In addition, a survey determined this
theory to be true “A significant drop-off in the percentage of adolescents eating a healthy lunch was noted if
they lived with family members (45.2%) or in a foster home (46.7%) compared to living with one (61.9%) or
two parents (65.8%)” (Young and Fors). Children are more likely to be eating healthier when they are with their
parents rather than when they are living in a different home. What if they live in two separate homes? Are they
still eating healthy in both?

Another factor that should also be taken into consideration is children who may have divorced parents. Those
children could be living in two different households which means they most likely have a different eating
routine at each home. For example, a child could develop an unhealthy diet when they are with one parent but
also maintain a healthy diet when they are with their other parent. This all ties back to what home or
environment you grow up in because that changes how well you are eating.

Many people believe that their childhood habits are only temporary and will disappear once they move out of
their home. Furthermore, a lot of college students still apply the same eating habits they had as a kid to their
everyday lives as adults. A survey was done to see how many college students still use the same eating habits
and manners they did as a child. “Specific current food habits, such as eating dessert, cleaning one’s plate, and
eating regularly scheduled meals, were dependent on the subject having been fed that way as a child, indicating
that childhood food habits persist into late adolescence” (Branen and Fletcher). These college students
displayed that the way you were raised and how you were taught to eat greatly influence what food decisions
you make in your adulthood.

There are still cultural and dietary needs as students even transition into college.

Personal needs
Being raised in certain cultures and religions, children grow up only eating certain foods. For example, in the
Muslim and Jewish community they both have dietary restrictions that are very similar. “Kosher Jews don't mix
meat and dairy, don't eat shellfish. Muslims and Jews don't eat pork, and Muslims don't eat anything prepared
with alcohol. Both religions require meat slaughtered in a specific way.” (Analysis). Due to these students'
cultural dietary restrictions these children can’t just eat all the different foods that the school gives out. The
schools need to be accommodating their needs and to put in more effort to allow all students to be able to eat
these lunches. With Covid-19 many families are struggling to make ends meet and these school lunches are all
they have, and we can’t exclude people because of their cultures, the schools have to change to meet all these
needs.

In addition, even when students get older and transition into college, they still have little choice. “I’ve never
gone into anaphylactic shock in my life because I’ve been that careful,” Rakus said. “So then the fact that it
happened on campus in my dining hall, that’s where my trust started feeling a little betrayed with the school in
general.”(Cavallo). Additionally, while salad bars and fruit bars are great options for most students, for those
with life-threatening allergies, this option is not always the safest. With food out in the open, it is hard to tell if
students mixed utensils or if any of the food was touching and became cross-contaminated.” They are paying

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for the food not like in elementary- high school, the food they are paying for should be safe and all students
should be able to eat them. How can they trust that there isn’t cross-contamination and they won't get sick or go
into anaphylactic shock when they just want lunch. Therefore, students aren’t able to peacefully enjoy their
lunches without the worry of being harmed.

By taking away the unhealthy lunches students are now not eating at all.

The New Issue

Also we may believe that schools are hurting students by feeding them harmful foods. Is that actually the case?
There has now been a discovery that proves this thought wrong, “A more recent national study of the Summer
Food Service Program specifically indicated that children wasted about one-third of the calories and nutrients
served, with only 11 percent of meals being consumed completely” (Cotugna and Vickery). By serving healthy
meals students are now not eating at all or are not eating very much of that meal. Which is better? A student
eating an unhealthy meal? Or not eating anything at all? Of course, eating an unhealthy meal is better than not
eating anything!

Furthermore, as we know that individuals are now being starved at school to add on to that there are now more
things being negatively affected by this issue, “Some school officials, food-industry advocates, and the School
Nutrition Association have raised concerns about increased food waste, decreased school-lunch participation”
(Taveras). While trying to resolve the unhealthy diet issue there has now been an issue created, of students
going the whole day of school without eating at all.

Thus by schools serving only healthy meals there has been a huge rise in food waste and a decreased lunch
participation by students. Overall by schools only providing fruits and vegetables to students they are hurting
them more than they were before.

Making a Difference
All schools claim to have healthy and nutritious lunches but in reality how many of them actually do? The
answer to this is that not many actually do offer nutritious menus as they claim too. A study was conducted to
see how many school districts in America did in fact offer healthy lunches. “Few states (3.9%) and 43.6% of
districts require schools to offer students a choice between two or more vegetables each day for lunch, 3.9% of
states and 41.3% of districts require schools to offer a choice
between two or more fruits or types of 100% fruit juice each
day for lunch, and 2.0% of states and 42.4% of districts require
schools to offer students a choice between two or more entrees
or main courses a day for lunch” (Wechsler).

These schools that offer a variety of different foods, drinks,

fruits, vegetables, etc. allow many students to eat based on their
preference. Also, this gives those students with food restrictions
a chance to actually be able to get school lunch without
worrying about what may be in the food.

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In Zanesville, Ohio, many of the schools there decided to get rid of their old lunch menu and replace it with a
Minnesota-based food service company. This food company would provide the school with nutritious gourmet
meals for lunch using products from local farms and organic producers. “The more students who eat lunch at
school, the more the district is reimbursed in funding,” said Assistant Superintendent Steven Foreman. “In order
to maximize the funding, we have to have all of our students eating school lunch. So how do we do that? We
provide food they enjoy''.” (Schultz). When the schools decided to switch over to this plan not only were the
students benefited with healthier lunches but the school also profited from this by having their funding be
maximized. As a result of all this, more students began to eat school lunches when they were given this
opportunity.

There Needs to Be Change

Coming up with new meal plans that are not only healthier for students but appealing as well. Having more
meal options for students that have food restrictions. For example, the schools can get chicken wraps either
wrapped in a tortilla or lettuce. It is a healthier option and it looks very appealing. “Students request for their
chicken to be put into wraps instead of in a chicken nugget”(Ngo). They want to be even just a little bit healthier
and can make them feel better throughout their day and about themselves in general. If they provide the healthy
choice that students actually want to eat. They would be eating all together and it being something a little more
healthy.

Having a salad day substituting with pizza everyday can be very beneficial to the students. On the contrary,
pizza for lunch every day is very unhealthy. If they substitute some days for a salad and maybe make it a
popcorn chicken salad, so they still have some sort of meat in it. That would be a healthier choice than a slice of
pizza every day.

The schools can start having a cultural week with different foods for the students with food restrictions. “I want
to be respectful of all of my students," Emerson said, "and so I think it's nice to showcase foods from all kinds
of cultures and not just simple, you know, teriyaki chicken. Just try to have a variety of foods. That's important
for kids to be exposed to”(Goad). Knowing that some cultures have food taboos and what they give at school is
not something they can always have. For instance, having a cultural food week once a month to introduce
different cultural foods and have those kids be able to get school food without feeling left out. Each day would
be a different culture and the students would take a survey on what foods they would like to have. That would
completely be the students choice of foods for that week.

It is not a surprise that children do not eat well if left to make these choices on their own. Students are
unable to focus and retain the information they are learning in class.

So, how do we resolve this? Creating healthy meals that are also appealing to students is a start. Replacing at
least one or two days of the week that usually is pizza day and replacing it with a healthier option like a taco
salad. They must also have options for different students who have allergies and/or restrictions based on cultural
preferences. There are many ways to incorporate healthy eating into students' lives, we just have to do so. Or if
we stop calling these students as 29.6 million people, and start calling them by their names would that be the
change?

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Works Cited
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