School Lunches:
Do We Know What We’re Talking About?
By: Emma Jenkins and Mckenna Murphy
Everyone talks about school lunches. Not many people know how school lunches became part of our lives.
Public school lunches began in 1946, founded by the National School Lunch Act. Harry Truman was the U.S. President who signed the bill for the National School Lunch Program. It created a permanent federal policy to provide students with nutrients to maintain their energy and health at school. School food services began before 1946, but the 1946 law was a way to require schools to provide at least one daily meal for their students.
At the turn of the 20th century, 120-plus years ago, the concern for malnourished children grew, compelling private organizations to help provide balanced meals. Philadelphia and Boston were the first two major cities in the United States to make a conscious effort to create a balanced lunch program. According to The National School Lunch Program “as of 2019, the United States has provided school lunches to 4.8 billion students.” The NSLP provides a “nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunch to children each school day.” according to its website.
Starting with the 2022-2023 school year, it has become law for all Maine public schools to provide free meals (breakfast and lunch) for their students. Previously students paid a modest amount (with federal taxpayer dollars subsidizing most of the cost). The objective for providing all-free meals was to help fight a hunger crisis in Maine.
Whereas this seems like a solution to a major problem, it needs to be taken into consideration whether or not the free meals provided are actually enough for the students. During the 2021 - 2022 school year (also during the pandemic) the federal government waived school lunch fees for all students in the United States. Since the free school lunch funding started at the beginning of the pandemic, there has been a difference in the overall quantity and quality of the food.
Maine state government provided $27 million dollars for all the students in Maine to have access to free lunches during the 2022-2023 school year. This amount was supposed to completely cover school lunches. According to Governor Janet Mills:
“We all know that children can’t learn on an empty stomach. I’m proud to say that here in Maine, we took nation-leading action to make sure all children can continue to eat for free during the school day. This investment in our children prepares them for future success and gives parents peace of mind. I hope that other states will follow our lead.”
But is a $27 million budget actually enough to feed all the students in Maine for one school year while still having every lunch provide the correct amount of nutrition per each food group? This is not just about health and nutrition. The issue has an impact on the academic performance of our students.
For insight< we conducted an interview with a former lunch program employee who has not only worked in high schools but also elementary schools in RSU 16. We asked her whether the school lunch experience was different depending on grade levels.
“I feel as though the middle school and high school provided the best options for school lunches, as in more variety as for what there is to eat,” she said.
We also asked her whether school lunches were nutritionally adequate for children.
“School lunches are sustainable if the students are eating the whole meal being provided for them, such as the main meal fruit, salad bar and milk,” she said.
How do you feel about the current levels of government funding for our school lunch program, we asked.
“Schools are providing enough funding for school lunches and the district and state do a good job on creating good school lunches with the money they’re given,” she said.
“Any lunch that is being provided by the school is nutritious if the lunch is eaten,” she stressed. “Any lunch that is being served qualifies for being sustainable and nutritious for students if they’re eating all that’s being given to them.”
Results from the most recent BMC Nutrition Survey (an open access, peer-reviewed journal) show that the energy value of the meals ranged from 32.27 – 243.4 calories per meal. The school meals contained carbohydrate (0.7 – 48.4 g), protein (0.69 – 12.6 g), vitamin C (0.7 – 8.22 mg), vitamin A (3.0 – 255.5 RE), iron (0.05 – 1.7 mg), calcium (3.0 –120 mg) and zinc (0.14 – 3.0 mg) per 100 g of food consumed. They contributed 16.4 – 25.5% energy, 53.4 – 116.9% protein, 66.0 – 159.5% vitamin A, 37.3 – 45.7% vitamin C, 13.2 – 28.5% calcium, 5.9 – 20.6% iron and 35.1 – 92.9% zinc to the children’s daily requirements.
In conclusion of school funding, the school meals provided over one third of the Reference Nutrient Intakes for protein, vitamins A and C, and zinc but did not meet a third of the Reference Nutrient Intakes for energy, calcium and iron.
Are schools providing school lunches that provide a nutritious value? The short answer is yes, although the more you dig for information, the most you realize school lunches always have room for improvement. It’s probably been that way since Harry Truman signed into law the first national school lunch program. . It is important to make sure we are advocating to make sure our kids, students, friends and family are provided with the best options for school lunches.
SOURCES FOR THIS STORY INCLUDE:
Governor Mills Welcomes U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Vilsack to Maine | Office of Governor Janet T. Mills)
The History of School Lunch | The History Kitchen. (www.pbs.org)
National School Lunch Program (www.usda.gov.)
Do We Know What We’re Talking About?
By: Emma Jenkins and Mckenna Murphy
Everyone talks about school lunches. Not many people know how school lunches became part of our lives.
Public school lunches began in 1946, founded by the National School Lunch Act. Harry Truman was the U.S. President who signed the bill for the National School Lunch Program. It created a permanent federal policy to provide students with nutrients to maintain their energy and health at school. School food services began before 1946, but the 1946 law was a way to require schools to provide at least one daily meal for their students.
At the turn of the 20th century, 120-plus years ago, the concern for malnourished children grew, compelling private organizations to help provide balanced meals. Philadelphia and Boston were the first two major cities in the United States to make a conscious effort to create a balanced lunch program. According to The National School Lunch Program “as of 2019, the United States has provided school lunches to 4.8 billion students.” The NSLP provides a “nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunch to children each school day.” according to its website.
Starting with the 2022-2023 school year, it has become law for all Maine public schools to provide free meals (breakfast and lunch) for their students. Previously students paid a modest amount (with federal taxpayer dollars subsidizing most of the cost). The objective for providing all-free meals was to help fight a hunger crisis in Maine.
Whereas this seems like a solution to a major problem, it needs to be taken into consideration whether or not the free meals provided are actually enough for the students. During the 2021 - 2022 school year (also during the pandemic) the federal government waived school lunch fees for all students in the United States. Since the free school lunch funding started at the beginning of the pandemic, there has been a difference in the overall quantity and quality of the food.
Maine state government provided $27 million dollars for all the students in Maine to have access to free lunches during the 2022-2023 school year. This amount was supposed to completely cover school lunches. According to Governor Janet Mills:
“We all know that children can’t learn on an empty stomach. I’m proud to say that here in Maine, we took nation-leading action to make sure all children can continue to eat for free during the school day. This investment in our children prepares them for future success and gives parents peace of mind. I hope that other states will follow our lead.”
But is a $27 million budget actually enough to feed all the students in Maine for one school year while still having every lunch provide the correct amount of nutrition per each food group? This is not just about health and nutrition. The issue has an impact on the academic performance of our students.
For insight< we conducted an interview with a former lunch program employee who has not only worked in high schools but also elementary schools in RSU 16. We asked her whether the school lunch experience was different depending on grade levels.
“I feel as though the middle school and high school provided the best options for school lunches, as in more variety as for what there is to eat,” she said.
We also asked her whether school lunches were nutritionally adequate for children.
“School lunches are sustainable if the students are eating the whole meal being provided for them, such as the main meal fruit, salad bar and milk,” she said.
How do you feel about the current levels of government funding for our school lunch program, we asked.
“Schools are providing enough funding for school lunches and the district and state do a good job on creating good school lunches with the money they’re given,” she said.
“Any lunch that is being provided by the school is nutritious if the lunch is eaten,” she stressed. “Any lunch that is being served qualifies for being sustainable and nutritious for students if they’re eating all that’s being given to them.”
Results from the most recent BMC Nutrition Survey (an open access, peer-reviewed journal) show that the energy value of the meals ranged from 32.27 – 243.4 calories per meal. The school meals contained carbohydrate (0.7 – 48.4 g), protein (0.69 – 12.6 g), vitamin C (0.7 – 8.22 mg), vitamin A (3.0 – 255.5 RE), iron (0.05 – 1.7 mg), calcium (3.0 –120 mg) and zinc (0.14 – 3.0 mg) per 100 g of food consumed. They contributed 16.4 – 25.5% energy, 53.4 – 116.9% protein, 66.0 – 159.5% vitamin A, 37.3 – 45.7% vitamin C, 13.2 – 28.5% calcium, 5.9 – 20.6% iron and 35.1 – 92.9% zinc to the children’s daily requirements.
In conclusion of school funding, the school meals provided over one third of the Reference Nutrient Intakes for protein, vitamins A and C, and zinc but did not meet a third of the Reference Nutrient Intakes for energy, calcium and iron.
Are schools providing school lunches that provide a nutritious value? The short answer is yes, although the more you dig for information, the most you realize school lunches always have room for improvement. It’s probably been that way since Harry Truman signed into law the first national school lunch program. . It is important to make sure we are advocating to make sure our kids, students, friends and family are provided with the best options for school lunches.
SOURCES FOR THIS STORY INCLUDE:
Governor Mills Welcomes U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Vilsack to Maine | Office of Governor Janet T. Mills)
The History of School Lunch | The History Kitchen. (www.pbs.org)
National School Lunch Program (www.usda.gov.)
