School Lunches: Healthy Choices vs. Crowd Pleasers

By Amanda Lanser

Childhood obesity is a worsening problem across the country. Will mandating that schools serve healthier lunches help control the problem? Or should children and their parents have the right to choose and learn to make their own healthy choices? Perspectives Flip Books are like two books in one: Start from one end and learn why some people argue schools should ban junk food and serve healthier lunches. Then flip it over and discover why others argue students should make their own choices. Critical thinking questions help you analyze both perspectives and form your own opinions about the issue.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Capstone Young Readers
• Release date: Jun 4, 2020
• ISBN: 9780756567521

Book preview

TABLE OF CONTENTS

HEALTHY CHOICES PERSPECTIVE

CHAPTER 1

YEARS OF SCHOOL LUNCHES

CHAPTER 2

KNOW YOUR LIMITS

CHAPTER 3

COMPETITIVE FOODS DEBATE

CHAPTER 4

BEYOND HEALTHY LUNCHES

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

INDEX

CROWD PLEASERS PERSPECTIVE

CHAPTER 1

YEARS OF CONTROVERSY

CHAPTER 2

I’M HUNGRY!

CHAPTER 3

LEARNING TO MAKE GOOD CHOICES

CHAPTER 4

HEALTHY LUNCHES, HIGHER COSTS

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

INDEX

SHARED RESOURCES

GLOSSARY

PROS AND CONS

CRITICAL THINKING USING THE COMMON CORE

BOOK IN THIS SERIES

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

FURTHER READING

SOURCE NOTES

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

COPYRIGHT

Perspectives Flip Books: Issues: School Lunches by Amanda Lanser

Chapter 1

YEARS OF SCHOOL LUNCHES

Students from Valley High School in Orange County, California, presented their meal to a panel of judges. The meal consisted of Kickin’ Tacos, Zesta Fiesta Salad, and Yummy Tummy Bananas. The students waited as the judges evaluated their meal and the meals of other school teams from throughout the country. Each team was tasked with creating a healthy school lunch. It had to be appealing, tasty, and original. The Cooking Up Change cooking challenge asks high school chefs to create meals that are healthy and appetizing on the same budget schools use per meal. The challenge is meant to show that providing healthy school lunches can be tasty, creative, and affordable.

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Approximately 100,000 schools throughout the United States participate in the National School Lunch Program.

The U.S. government has provided students in public and private schools nutritious school lunches since the 1940s. The National School Lunch Program is one of the nation’s more popular government programs. It has been the subject of debate and reform since it began in 1946. The public, the food industry, and politicians do not always agree on what a nutritious lunch is. They argue over what foods should and should not be allowed in school lunchrooms. They debate whether the government should even be involved in supplying lunches to students.

The argument over school lunches continues today. Those in favor of making school lunches healthier hope more nutritious lunches will decrease overweight and obesity rates in children. The National School Lunch Program provides one-third to one-half of a student’s calories in any given day. For that reason, supporters of healthier lunches believe the government should have an interest in making meals as nutritious as possible.

How the Lunch Program Works

The school lunch program is a federal program run by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). But each state government is responsible for administering its own programs. If school districts choose to participate in the program, they receive money from the government for the lunches they serve. Schools also receive foods from the USDA. When the program first started, these foods were distributed from surpluses