STRAIGHT FROM THE HORSES MOUTH

Duane A. Lienemann,
 UNL Extension Educator, Webster County
October 12, 2012 Edition

We are now seeing the impacts of the new USDA school lunch rules, crafted with the passage of the Healthy and Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. The new rules were meant to do everything from combating obesity and diabetes, to educating kids about healthier food choices. It adds more fruits and vegetables to USDA-provided lunches in public schools; caps salt, fat, and calories; and replaces white flour with whole wheat flour. It also adds to the cost of school lunch.
The most noticeable change is the requirement that students now have at least a half cup of fruits or vegetables daily, with further regulations dictating how much of each type and color of vegetable must be served to students over the course of a week. Also, more than 50 percent of grains must now be whole grains. There also limits on the total amounts of meat and grain portions that can be served, and milk offerings have been restricted to 1 percent or fat free and many schools have eliminated the popular chocolate milk offering. These new federal lunch guidelines for schools aren't going down well with some students. One of the reasons is that the guidelines restrict the number of calories that can be on a lunch tray
Prior to the federal lunch guidelines, schools only had a calorie minimum, there was no maximum limit. For lunch schools had to offer at least 500 to 800 calories but could go up to one thousand or two thousand, it didn't matter as long as they met that minimum. Now there's a cap on calories and many students are hungry and upset. The goal of course is to fight obesity among children. But here's the flip side. Many students are throwing away the fruits and veggies, and then going hungry for the rest of the school day. From the practical standpoint, these lunches cost more and then are wasted.
As a long time teacher and coach I can tell you that hungry students do not do well in the classroom and especially in sports and other school events and activities. I know that this is all well intentioned and the idea of it makes a little sense, but to me it's just like anything else in the world - you can't make one rule and make it apply to everybody. It seems to me that when it comes to calories, one size does not fit all. Even though advocates will argue that it fits most students. They say that because it is based on the average population. Not a sick individual. Not an athlete. Not on the size or even metabolism of the student. Basically a kindergarten student gets about the same calories as the football team’s linebacker. It's based on an average population because that covers the majority of our society. I know that 750 to 850 calories for a teenager, active or not, is not a dangerously low amount, but as I understand it, many student are simply leaving out some of the essentials. For instance, some students who will take the required grain and meat but then will skip out of the fruit and vegetables. Does that really surprise anyone? My guess is that that may contribute to them not feeling full enough for practices.
Historically, the school lunch program dates back to the Depression era when many families were forced to turn to public assistance for the first time in order to feed and care for their children. I believe the current school-lunch program through the USDA was founded in 1946 under Harry Truman as a national-security issue at a time when malnutrition was a real problem among WWII draftee families. The school lunch program was designed to ensure children were full enough in order to function well in a classroom. We should also know that nobody starves to death in America any more, and the draft is long gone. Poor nutrition is now a choice, not a fate, and some families simply choose how they eat. No amount of government coercion is going to change that. It is obvious to me that the original objective is no longer being met.
Because human beings will always find a way to do what they want to do, schools are finding that students promptly toss the food in the trash and are smuggling in junk food from home or go outside of the school cafeteria to fill their gullets. Many kids just stop eating lunch and many of these are kids that the school lunch may be their main meal. What are we accomplishing? I am afraid that this “Nanny State” approach will have disastrous effects on our schools and particular the students within. I hope that parents, students and other concerned individuals like myself will contact their Senators and Congressmen to add voice to those that think this is an intrusion on our rights to choose, and/or the support of proper “fuel” for our students and student/athletes. Because it affects the amount of meat being offered in 32 million lunches and 13 million breakfasts served in schools every day, I would think our pork and beef producers would also take notice!
I agree that improving the nutrition in school meals is a challenge deserving our attention. However, now that school districts have begun implementing the new standards, students, parents and administrators across the country are raising many concerns with the new rule. I can see why! While I think the added fruits and vegetables are a good thing, I also feel that the protein and carbohydrate limitation (10-12 ounces a week) is not enough provide energy for our average and active student. For your reference two ounces (.125 pounds) of raw ground beef is about one average meatball. Almost all our students when I taught at Blue Hill had a weightlifting class and competed in sports or were very active in other school extra-curricular groups or activities, and were trying to listen and learn in class and needed “fuel” for their day.
I personally see a problem with a “one size fits all” program that only is meant to target the overweight student, not the average student. I found a YouTube video made by students that I think may drive home my point. This parody on the national school lunch policy called “We Are Hungry" at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IB7NDUSBOo tells it like it is as only high school students can do it. I also encourage you if you have Facebook to search for “Nutrition Nannies.”

The preceding information comes from the research and personal observations of the writer which may or may not reflect the views of UNL or UNL Extension. For more further information on these or other topics contact D. A. Lienemann, UNL Extension Educator for Webster County in Red Cloud, (402) 746-3417 or email to: dlienemann2@unl.edu or go to the website at: http://www.webster.unl.edu/home