You’ve had a rough morning. The alarm clock went off too early. You barely had time to eat breakfast. You forgot to do your math homework, and you have a tough sports practice that afternoon.
Lunch time calls your name like a rescue boat, as if you were stranded at sea. You’re excited to talk to friends, to catch up on everything that has happened that morning, to eat… You are excited to eat… right?
The sad truth is that you aren’t happy about eating, not with the recent changes in school lunch that is. If you are a senior or even a junior, you remember those blessed days of mouth-watering Knight Burgers, delectable cheesy bread, and plentiful carbohydrates.
Unfortunately, those days appear to be finished. We are now left with whole grain corndogs, mixed seeds, and broken memories of school lunches that are gone. Why did this happen, and can it be fixed? That is what I set out to discover in my investigation on the tragedy of the school lunch.
What was discovered in my search was shocking and disturbing. Prior to 2010, school lunchrooms could serve a minimum of 825 calories per day to high school students. Now, under the new rules, lunchrooms can serve a maximum of 750-850 calories per day. This is startling news, considering a teenage male athlete requires 2,800-5,000 calories a day, depending on the sport.
There are only three meals a day. That means you should be eating a minimum of 930 calories per meal, on average. Unfortunately, with school lunches the way they currently are, that is not happening. And for those of you in those extremely intense sports, you are even farther from your correct calorie intake. Students’ performances in sports are in danger due to these school lunches.
Girls, don’t think you are left out of this. Most female high school athletes need 1800-2400 calories a day. However, it is advised to eat more than this for high endurance sports. You, ladies, are technically getting your full nutritional level, yet you don’t feel full when you leave the lunchroom. We are all running the risk of malnutrition, especially if you are one that does not have time for breakfast.
Also, if you are a student on free and reduced lunch, school lunch may be your biggest meal of the day. Is it fair that your main source of nutrition is being limited by small portion sizes, vegetable restrictions, and fruit limits? Absolutely not. The system does not make sense, and East Noble students agree.
According to a recent poll conducted from an East Noble Psychology class, students are not thrilled about the poor quality and quantity of food being served. Nearly 75% of students don’t think the lunches are fairly priced, and over half the students don’t feel full after eating, nor do they believe that calorie requirements for athletes are being met.
Some people may say, “Quit complaining, just buy more food.” However, we students can hardly stomach the fact that we may have to pay extra money just to get more than five pieces of broccoli.
The situation appears to be quite bleak, and, unfortunately, it won’t be getting better anytime soon. Sodium levels are going to continue to be dropped over the next several years and all grain will eventually change to whole grain as a result of the changes to the National School Lunch Program. It’s going to get worse before it gets better.
So what can we do? Do we give up? Certainly not. There are options for us. First, we can all start packing our lunches, or start bringing extra food. That way we can make sure we are getting the nutrition we need, and I’m sure we will see results in our athletic performances. Second, we can speak up about this issue. Schools all over the United States are making such a big noise about these lunches, and their schools are dropping these restrictions. Talk to your teachers, to your administrators, and to your school board about these problems. Third, you can write in to The Knightly Scroll on this topic. We would love to publish your opinion for others to see.
Don’t think you can’t make a change East Noble. All it takes is one person to speak up. Fight for what you believe is right.
(Statistics Courtesy of ABC News and SFGate)
(Psychology Survey Results Supplied by Shea Targgart)