I'm all for healthy eating but don't kids who are still growing require more calories and food they will actually eat?

yes. Its been reported that schools dropped out of the healthy meals program when kids complained about being hungry even after the meal and when students in athletics decreased in performance due to lack of needed calories to keep up their training.

Those pictures in the article are disgusting. I would not let my family eat that.

Current thought is, people should eat every 2-3 hours, avoid processed food and simple carbs. Instead they should eat diets made of grass fed meat, whole milk, fruit, vegetables and complex carbs. That is common knowledge these days- but look how few adults eat that way, let alone kids. I have heard people say it is too expensive to eat healthy. I have been feeding my family whole food for years and spend less than most of the people who tell me it is too expensive to stop feeding their kids junk. Most of our great grand parents and grandparents were able to figure it out- seems like we can, too.

It is the same issue for schools: processed food is cheaper and more convenient to buy than whole foods.

Schools receive federal funding for the school lunch programs and (most) parents have to pay a small amount for lunches to off set the cost to the school. Some schools keep ordering from the restaurant supply chains because it is convenient and processed carbs are cheaper than complex carbs, etc. What is interesting is that it is not currently mandated as to WHERE the schools purchases their food. (other than FDA approved sources)

What is for lunch in a particular school may very well be similar to what is on the dinner table at home. Really, if parents were upset about the food quality at their kid's school and they didn't feed their children that way at home, wouldn't they do something about it? A crowd of angry moms is definitely a force to be reckoned with, right?


I am a behavior consultant and I travel to public schools all over my state, I mostly see lunches like what is in the article, but at some schools I have sees healthy, fresh food. I wonder why some schools can figure out how to do it and others can't?

I can't help but think this is a matter of parent/community involvement.

Even before this lunch program was established I don't think the schools were providing enough food for athletes. I can't even imagine being an athlete who has no options but to eat these school lunches.