What Is The Problem With The National School Lunch Program

The Problem with the National School Lunch Program
The National School Lunch Program began the year after the second World War. During the war, many draftees were not able to enlist, because they repeatedly failed their health exams, due to malnourishment. This caused the government to realize that the general population were not receiving enough nutrition. This realization is what led to the development of the idea for The National School Lunch Program, that was put into effect in 1946. This program made it so students were able to eat food surpluses that Congress had allowed the government to purchase (Hiemstra). The NSLP has evolved throughout the years, and now school lunches are readily available for everyone. However, The National School
However, when a kitchen at an elementary school in Washington was observed it was discovered that “‘fresh cooked’ does not mean ‘from scratch’ or even ‘fresh ingredients,’” a majority of the meals being served were “made from processed foods that have been precooked and frozen” (Bruske). Due to the fact that the food is precooked and frozen, the meals are normally steamed before being served. According to Bruske’s observations this has led to once “gleaming” vegetables to become “limp and drab”, and even become “completely disintegrated”. It is no wonder that students are not participating in this program. No one would like to eat food that is described in this way. This low-quality food is why many students would rather not eat. Cedric Bonsol, a junior who attends Bravo high school in Los Angeles said, “’Sometimes, I don't eat because I don't like it’" (Lin). This school meals are not up to par, and that is why so many students do eat the school provided lunches. If the schools started serving better quality food than what they are serving now, more students would likely begin to participate in the National School Lunch
The best way to stop the need to “squeeze” is by increasing the school lunch budget. A way to accomplish this could be done by borrowing elements from how the school lunch programs are in other places. For instance, Japan’s lunch program is set up so that “"municipalities pay for labor costs, but parents—billed monthly—pay for the ingredients, about $3 per meal, with reduced and free options for poorer families,"” (Woldow). This way more money is going into the budget, but there are still options for those who cannot afford it. If the National School Lunch Program were to take elements from them, like billing for the quality ingredients, then more students would participate. This would cause the NSLP to not be able to give free lunches for everyone, but with the fact that food is not being eaten anyway it might cause incentive to eat lunch. This way quality food can be afforded, and the National School Lunch Program will be able to have more