Do you think the government should have control over what we eat or what our children eat? I don’t, but that is what’s happening in schools all over America. In 2010, former President Barack Obama signed the Healthy Hunger-Free Act, making schools change their lunches. This gave the government control over what the schools could buy for lunches. There are certain specifications the government puts on school lunches to meet a certain amount of sugar, fats, sodium, etc. However, it isn’t even good. Even the snacks must meet these specifications, but what can we do as students to change this?
There are a few things we could do to enact change. Starting a petition to get the government to listen is one option. Students could write letters to the government about their feelings and thoughts on the food. Schools could come up with healthier recipes that still follow their specifications while still being enjoyable to eat.
A survey was done in California among middle school and high school students. In this survey, 64% of students said they would eat school meals more often if offered more choices.
From these results, we can see that more than half the students do not like the food choices they are given or would like more options of food to pick from. So what are you going to do about it? Are you going to keep letting the government control what you or your children eat? This is why we need to change our school lunches and not just sit silent about it, or else we won’t see a change. Remember, your voice matters in these situations.