Can we say goodbye to student lunches?

This essay was written by a student in Katherine Cohen’s 7th-grade English class at Greenberg Elementary in Northeast Philadelphia. The students were assigned the task of writing a persuasive letter. Some of those letters have been revised by the students and submitted to be published in various Philadelphia media outlets.

This essay was written by a student in Katherine Cohen’s 7th-grade English class at Greenberg Elementary in Northeast Philadelphia. The students were assigned the task of writing a persuasive letter. Some of those letters have been revised by the students and submitted to be published in various Philadelphia media outlets.

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Are you fed up with the terrible school lunches we get? I am! The National School Lunch Program is a meal program that is payed for by the U.S. government. It operates in over 100,000 public schools as well as non-profit private schools and child care institutions. It has turned out to be a poor investment and is not making children healthier. The National School Lunch Program should be redesigned.

One reason the National School Lunch Program should be redesigned is because the government does not give enough money. For example, the schools usually receive $2.50 for each meal. Also, very little of the money actually goes to the food. Instead, it goes to custodians and cafeteria heating. Furthermore, in 2007, the National School Lunch Program cost around $9 billion, which was not enough to pay for the food. One solution would be for the government to give more money to the National School Lunch Program.

Another reason the National School Lunch Program should be redesigned is because the food is low quality and not healthful. For instance, schools receive cheap food that is valued at a little over twenty cents. In addition, the food includes high-fat, low-grade meats and cheese and processed foods such as pizza and chicken nuggets. Also, due to budget cuts, some schools today do not even have kitchens, causing the food to be prepared off site and just heated and served at school. The food should be more healthful and have better quality.

A third reason to why the National School Lunch Program should be redesigned is because changing the school lunch program to be healthful would benefit the country. For instance, a benefit would be that it would bring long-term savings. Also, it would improve children’s health and dietary habits. Food safety, environmental preservation, and energy conservation would all improve as well. In conclusion, changing the school lunch program would benefit the country in many ways.

The National School Lunch Program must be redesigned. The government needs to give the program more money. Also, the food should be healthful and the quality of the food should be improved. When the National School Lunch Program is redesigned, the country will benefit from it in many ways. Long-term savings, improvement of children’s health and dietary habits, and the improvement of food safety, environmental preservation, and energy conservation are all benefits. Help the National School Lunch Program by calling the United States Department of Agriculture and asking them to redesign the program and to give you the meals you deserve.

Sources

“No Lunch Left Behind” by Alice Waters and Katrina Heron, in The New York Times
“Who decides what goes into school lunches?” by Debra Ronca, in HowStuffWorks
“National School Lunch Program” by the United States Department of Agriculture, at www.fns.usda.gov