Lawmakers Working to Improve School Food Offerings

School lunches are notoriously bad. Mystery meat, fake cheese, and a lack of fresh fruit and vegetables are only part of the problem; with high-calorie sodas and vending machine options increasing the calorie intake of our children, the whole system is feeding our children in a way that is nutritionally inferior. While many children balk at brown-bagging it or—heaven forbid—carrying a lunchbox, it is the only way to ensure that they eat healthy, balanced food. But the tide may be changing.

With the White House advocating with the Healthy Food Financing Initiative, First Lady Michele Obama taking the message to the streets and to food manufacturers, and Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution gaining ground, the focus on school lunches has probably never seen so much press. Combined with the alarming rate of obesity amongst our youth, and it was bound to happen that someone in Congress would lead a charge to shake things up in school cafeteria’s around the country. 

 A long time coming, Senator Blanche Lincoln, who chairs the Agriculture Committee, has put forth a ten-year, $4.5 billion increase in funding for school lunch and nutrition programs. While this stops short of President Obama’s $1 million/year request, and that of food advocates such as Alice Waters and Ann Cooper, it will provide much-needed upgrading of food standards in our schools.

“This proposal is a monumental step forward as we work to end childhood hunger and address the epidemic of childhood obesity in the United States," Lincoln said in unveiling her bill. The bill will not only feed more children who cannot afford a mid-day meal but make it easier to attain eligibility for free meals. In addition, it will include provisions for allowing the Agriculture Department to set nutrition standards for all food sold at schools, and could ban high-sugar sodas and junk food from vending machines.

Currently, the school lunch program serves over 32 million children, with over 60 percent being free or reduced in cost. In many poor urban areas and low-income rural communities, the lunch program is a significant portion of a student’s daily calories and nutrition.