The article “Public Schools Face the Rising Costs of Serving Lunch” (New York Times, Sept. 20th 2011) discusses the important issue of the affordability of nutritious food. U.S. public schools are facing terrible budget crises and simply can’t increase expenditures. The recently signed child nutrition bill is a positive leap forward concerning our country’s health, because the nutrient poor food served in schools before was a main contributor to the growing rates of childhood obesity that we see causing scores of chronic health problems later in life. Although I understand the concern about raising school lunch prices, the health of American children is well worth a few extra cents. In a perfect world, schools would be able to serve tasty, nutritious food without increasing prices, but healthy food costs more in our current food system, and in this budget crisis, the federal government cannot subsidize the increased costs for everyone. We need to value our children’s health and start to realize that making healthy decisions for them now will save on health care costs in the future.
Sophia Gill, Berkeley CA
I agree with the comments made by Sophia Gill regarding theimportance of serving healthy food to children in public schools. The childnutrition bill was an important piece of legislation which should help stem thetide of growing obesity facing Americans. According to the Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention, there has been a dramatic increase in obesity over thepast 20 years, resulting an obesity rate of about one-third in the U.S. Obesityhas been linked to a number of serious medical conditions including type 2diabetes, heart disease, stroke and cancer. It is important that childrendevelop healthy eating habits when they are young so that they can learn properapproaches to caloric intake that will serve them well as adults. By makingthis change, children will have longer, healthier lives.
ReplyDeleteThis is a tricky issue. It is certainly true that our public schools need to foster healthy habits by providing nutritious meals for kids. In a culture where attempting to solve problems "post-facto" rather than preempting their ocurrance has lead to national problems such as obesity, it is imperative that we begin to turn this around. Public schools should be the main enablers of healthy habits in children, not promoters of junk food because it is cheaper. However, bringing healthy, more expensive food to students who already cannot afford school lunches is also an issue. Some sort of system must be worked out by which all students, if they want, have access to the same nutritious foods. This is going to require greater involvement of the state in public education funding priorities.
ReplyDelete“I’m worried,” Ms. Brooks said. “A lot of our families are struggling to make ends meet.”
ReplyDeleteFamilies who pay $2.50 per lunch add up, especially if you have more than one child in school. I mean, it is like another electric bill some families cannot afford.
I agree with the comment above that the state and the school district need to work together to prioritize their budgets. But what about subsidizing healthy crops like fruit and vegetables and begin to stop subsidizing meat and the dairy industry?
Not only will this help lower the obesity population but will also encourage local farmers to grow healthy crops and be able to provide REAL food to our future generation.