Teens blame First Lady for school lunch fails
Teenagers across the country have taken to Twitter to complain about their school lunch options, complaining with the hashtag #ThanksMichelleObama. The First Lady has been vocal about the need for nutritional changes in school lunches and has been a staunch supporter of the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act that passed in 2010. The Act changed the requirements for school lunch nutritional quality, though the more healthful modifications were given a few years to be rolled out.
Photos of unappetizing school fare in cafeteria Styrofoam trays have flooded Twitter since the hashtag was born as many teens are declaring that they would rather go hungry (or that they have gone hungry) than eat the “healthy” lunch options offered at their schools.
There are plenty of people pointing out the flaws in the hashtag’s logic, too. These supporters point out (and rightly so) that the nutritional requirements were not actually drafted by the First Lady nor signed into law by her — and that those requirements are simply guidelines. It is up to individual school districts to produce healthy AND appetizing lunch options for the students.
I’ve written before about the correlation between a healthy diet and strong performance in school. Eating healthy is important to academic success, and hunger gets in the way of learners who cannot focus in the classroom. I admit that the photos the teens are posting do look a tad untasty — but blaming the First Lady for wanting stricter nutritional options in our schools is misdirected anger.
What do you think? How can the quality of school lunches improve but still follow heightened nutritional values?
People always want to blame others! I am glad she is taking time to offer new nutrition guidelines to schools, and with the students best interests at heart.
The First Lady started the push to remove the good tasting food in favor of nutritious foods. That is why she is getting blamed. Schools are following the guidelines and that means that the new meals aren’t appetizing to students. It’s a shame we can’t find a way to find a happy medium – healthier foods that still taste good so students will eat them. Healthy food is good fuel for the brain and boosts learning, but not eating lunch at all must be worse that eating the less-than-healthy foods that were served prior to the new guidelines.
The First Lady is trying to do nothing but help our students learn better and be healthier people. No need to rashly point fingers at her. It’s up to our schools to met the guidelines and make sure the meals they serve taste good, too, so students actually eat the food that is served. Maybe the schools can try to add some spices to the dishes or serve additional condiments to make the meals taste better.