A friend of mine walks away from the cafeteria lunch line carrying a breaded chicken patty, a carton of chocolate milk, and a white, plastic container with a clear seal on the top with a brown, chunky liquid inside.
I asked her what was in the cup. She told me, “I don’t know.” So why was she eating it? Again, she responded with a simple, “I don’t know.”
The food in the Middletown High School cafeteria is similar to many others throughout the country – they are consistantly over-processed, unhealthy and, sometimes, unrecognizable. Not to mention the lack of options for people who have certain dietary restrictions.
While the meals arere inexpensive and convenient, neither of those are equal to the value of a whole, fresh, healthy meal.
It seems unfair to students who do want to eat cleanly and continue to purchase the school lunches. Schools should instead encourage students to live a healthy lifestyle by offering them good food every day in the lunch line.
Every meal should be a plate full of various colors- not just brown and tan.
I may sound like a green, granola-munching tree-hugger, but if you don’t believe what I have to say, let the food speak for itself.
I glanced over at the rather small carton of chocolate milk. The nutrition facts showed that there were 21 grams of sugar in it. Maybe water would be a better choice?
Another student walks away from the lunch line carrying a few bags of chips, a popular choice, Doritos. On average, one bag of Doritos has about 11 chips. As for the nutrition content? You get 12% of your recommended daily fat (If you eat 2,000 calories every day, it is more if you eat less that 2,000 calories) and a list of 44 ingredients you can’t pronounce.
Don’t get me wrong, sugar isn’t necessarily a bad thing – your body needs it to run. But sugar should come from fruits and vegetables, not a carton of milk. Fat isn’t bad either, but an avocado trumps a bag of processed chips any day.
The quality of school lunches desperately needs improvement, or the students at Middletown High School and other schools around the country will not receive the nutrients they need to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
