School lunch program reform

January 20, pm Tony Katz By: Staff. Tweet Share LinkedIn Email. Related Articles. January 13, Coronavirus By: Eric Berman.

Are you still listening? By , 34 of the then 45 states had laws calling for compulsory education of all children under the age of Well aware of the tremendous social inequality of this industrial era, reformers saw the need to improve the outcomes of all students drawn into the education system. Philadelphia and Boston were the first two American cities to institute school lunch programs, starting at the end of the 19th century.

The response these programs received was overwhelmingly positive. These programs were shown to be not only providing growing bodies with nutritious foods, but they were also teaching children healthy eating habits and helping them learn to choose their food wisely. With such excellent results, school lunches readily expanded to more schools and more municipalities across the county.

In the early s, farmers were facing financial ruin thanks to price collapses, laborers were having extreme difficulty finding work, and poor children were experiencing increasing malnutrition and hunger.

School lunch programs emerged as the perfect solution to all three problems. Adherence to a gluten-free diet is the only effective treatment for those diagnosed with celiac disease, which comprises only about.

Supplement in The Journal of Nutrition explores whether fortification of salt with iodine and iron could solve a major global. Skip to content Search for:. Chris has worked on various research projects related to metabolism and epilepsy, cardiac complications of obesity and saturated fat, obesity and long term care facilities, and nutrition and aging. There are long-term health consequences: One third of children in California are now considered obese, and a meat- and dairy-heavy diet has been linked to numerous preventable health conditions, like diabetes and heart disease.

Numerous studies have found that kids with healthy eating habits do better in school. A study found that consuming fruits and vegetables not only reduces childhood obesity, it also improves school performance and attendance.

Current school lunch policies promote — and subsidize — environmentally harmful industries. Did you know that animal agriculture contributes Industrial livestock production is also a leading contributor to deforestation, mass extinction, and water pollution. Through the USDA Foods program, the government purchases meat and dairy products from farmers and sells them to schools at deeply discounted rates. At the same time, the National School Lunch Program fails to give credit to many plant-based proteins, like seitan and quinoa, to meet requirements.

While the federal government had previously started to dismantle some of these outdated policies, in recent years it has reversed course, shoring up policies that use school lunch to protect and promote factory farming. Current school lunch programs perpetuate racial disparities and health inequity. In addition to causing environmental harm, school lunch programs also reveal a racial health disparity.

Even though a majority of Black, Asian and Latino children are lactose intolerant , current policy requires that every child be served milk for schools to be reimbursed for the meal.