School Meal Reform

Yes! We should be funding our schools enough that parents having the money to feed their kids shouldn’t be a worry. Kids shouldn’t have to worry if they are going to get to eat or not. They should all get to eat and eat something healthy

Yes! My son sends me pictures of his lunch some days because he can’t believe what is being served. Also, the amount of food they get is ridiculous. He’ll send me a pic of his whole meal for the day and it will be 3 or 4 fries and a hamburger bun with a piece of lunch meat on it. One piece of lunch meat. I know they have to stick to a certain calorie intake amount per meal but if we were serving nutritious whole foods they could eat a lot more. If they were served a piece of baked chicken with a vegetable side, they might actually get full. And I understand it might take some kids some getting used to but I would rather a child have to get used to eating healthy foods vs insanely unhealthy foods. It teaches them good life skills for the future. Parents should get a say so in their childs nutrition while they are at school. They are away from us at school more during the day than they are home. Why shouldn’t we get a say? And the ice cream and chips and cookies should not be an option for them to buy. Things like that should be left to individual classrooms for special occasions. Not things to buy on a daily basis.

We are a family of 5 (3 boys), we cook 80-90% of the time at home, this is how i and my wife grow up and that’s how we do it at home. My boys don’t eat lunch at school half the time because the food is trash. They’ve told me many times what the schools are serving and i would want my dogs eating it. Another thing, why do we have to pay for their meals, prisoners get everything for free, school meals and transportation to/from school should be free.

This is one thing that came to mind when I noticed this site.
School lunch today is terrible. They aren’t exactly nutritional or high quality food. Pizza tasted like cardboard. French fries are harder a piece of twig. Most high schoolers go hungry.

I agree with both of your above statements. Local, fresh food for our schools would benefit the children’s health and the community. I also agree that life skills like real cooking should be taught in schools. For the adults, as long as they can get on YouTube or read, there are a ton of healthy recipes/cooking methods to learn to cook homemade from. I think the greatest feat is to truly, honestly, and openly inform all individuals of what true health means and that God or Mother Nature has given us all that we need, as in the ability to grow on this land for the animals we eat and us.

1 Like

Relatedly, require nutritious meals (whole foods) be served in hospitals, long-term care facilities, rehabilitation centers, and by the national school lunch program
Most chronic conditions are rooted in poor nutrition due to the American Standard Diet. I have directly observed the poor nutrition associated with meals served in hospitals, long-term care facilities, and rehabilitation centers. My mother who has diabetic neuropathy has been served cookies, baked beans, brownies, breads, potatoes which are high glycemic index. Other elderly patients are given Pepsi and/or Coke products, potato chips, and other junk “food.” Whole foods, particularly the ketogenic diet, are known to reverse or ameliorate chronic diseases and should be the default menu in healthcare setting. Moreover, school lunches should also include whole foods.

1 Like

As a provider of local, fresh food to schools for over 10 years, boy do I have ideas for improvement and change. The pendulum is swinging but much slower than it should be, there is so much opportunity for change and improvement. Really hoping that RFKJ and Brooke Rollins can team to to make school food healthy again!

  • Eliminate commodity processed option for school food service (this is where districts can and often do opt to use their entitlement funds toward what is called commodity processing - where they allocate FREE ingredients (ie beef, cheese, etc) to a given processor (ie XYZ frozen pizza co), who then takes that FREE ingredient(s) and makes frozen pizzas and then SELLS them back to the district at a discount. It is a racket and only the processor benefits.

  • Reduce the regulations on school food directors - set very minimum requirements for SFAs to get their per meal funding. Most SFAs are so busy with all of the government red tape and regulations that actually cooking good food is no longer their top priority, in fact it is barely a priority at all

  • Meals should be protein and produce focused, made from whole foods ONLY - eliminate ALL processed foods with unnecessary additives (vs current regulations are driving meals to be that of a heart patient in a hospital based on current dietary guidelines by limiting sodium primarily, there has been zero limits on added sugar and breakfasts have the OPTION of protein or carb, based on pure cost and student preference of course the sweet breakfast option trumps a savory protein one every day)

  • Increase the funding per meal for schools - current reimbursement is just over $5/meal (plus entitlement), but still that is NOT enough to provide a healthy well balanced meal. That revenue has to cover food costs and labor to make/serve the food and any overhead.

  • Fund school kitchen infrastructure - most school kitchens are either old and antiquated (can’t be updated due to excessive costs required by DSA/ADA/etc requirements) or newly built ones were designed as heat and serve only kitchens, so they don’t have the proper equipment to make simple wholesome food. Amazing new commercial kitchen equipment is available - Combi ovens are MAGIC - need them in every school across the nation!!

  • Require longer lunch periods at school with lunch recess BEFORE not after lunch, so kids are more hungry when its time to eat and not anxious to skip their lunch to get out to recess. This is a constant battle with schools and unions. Make mealtimes about the importance of nourishing our bodies a key part of public school, starting with the youngest students incentivize teachers to have meals in the classroom or family style meals where kids learn and are encouraged to taste and try new things and enjoy food. Add mandatory nutrition education at every grade level so that students are learning how important it is to eat healthy well balanced whole food meals with limited added sugars, processed foods and artificial ingredients.

Those are my key points, would LOVE to connect with anyone who agrees or has other ideas to suggest policy improvements about school food. Thank you.