School Lunches In America

Words: 989
Pages: 4

614849 Mrs. Luke Kazeff English 2 Period 3 21 March 2024.

In America, school lunches have more of a negative impact than most think. If schools adopt more healthy and environmentally friendly lunches, there will be a more positive impact on children's lives and the environment. For one, schools need to offer more healthy food options to students. Also, the current lunches schools offer are detrimental towards the environment and a change is needed. Lastly, low income families' health and lives are heavily affected by the ignorance of schools. Schools in America need to adopt healthier and more sustainable lunches in order to improve the health of students and the environment. Schools need to offer healthier food options in order to improve
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6,786 pounds of waste could be diverted during the school year from landfills”(Vanderlip). The amount of waste that can be prevented from going into landfills or polluting the environment, just from reusable containers is shocking, but it's one of the easiest solutions to put into action. And by switching to reusables instead of compostable utensils and containers, “The reduction in carbon dioxide emissions would be equal to taking nearly 800 cars off the road”(Vanderlip). Not only can the amount of pollution be reduced, the carbon footprint school waste has can be reduced. The effort it takes for schools nationwide to adopt reusable containers is very little, yet the impact it would have on the environment is amazing considering the state of the Earth as of right now. Corporations that supply schools with lunches make use of concentrated animal feeding operations in order to mass produce foods. However, “Both CAFOs and slaughterhouses have a disturbing record of inhumane practices, poor working conditions and substantial health and environmental damage, including toxic air emissions and water pollution”(Kraus-Polt et al.). Schools that buy processed foods that are cheap and efficient are …show more content…
Schools meals are a critical intervention to address racial and socio-economic health disparities among children who lack access to healthy food at home”(Kraus-Polk et al.). Low income students cannot rely on school food when it is detrimental to their health. Most low-income families rely and trust upon school lunch to nourish their children when they can not provide adequate lunch. The rates of obesity in the country are nearly twenty percent of all children, and for low-income students who rely on school lunch, “the rates are worse. for low-income children all across the United States, who eat most of the nearly five billion lunches served by the federal program each year”(Bernstein et al.). School lunches are making low-income families even worse. Low income parents have enough to worry about on their own, making sure their kid is eating properly at school when told that students will be provided lunch should not be another. The majority of low income families live in black or brown communities, which are often near industrial areas. Living near industries that provide for schools can often cause