Title: 
Headings: 

Content: The
 
federally
 
assisted
 
meal
 
program
 
was
 
created
 
to
 
safeguard
 
the
 
health
 
and
 
well-being
 
of
 
the
 
nation’s
 
children
 
and
 
to
 
encourage
 
the
 
consumption
 
of
 
American-grown
 
commodities. The
 
federal
 
government
 
would
 
reimburse
 
schools
 
for
 
student
 
who
 
qualified
 
for
 
free
 
or
 
reduced
 
meals. Students
 
who
 
didn’t
 
qualify
 
were
 
able
 
to
 
purchase
 
lunch,
 
and
 
their
 
money
 
was
 
used
 
to
 
off-set
 
the
 
costs
 
of
 
building
 
new
 
facilities
 
for
 
the
 
expanding
 
program. The
 
program
 
started
 
to
 
expand
 
because
 
of
 
the
 
increasing
 
number
 
of
 
women
 
working
 
outside
 
the
 
home
 
during
 
the
 
war
 
(Winchell,
 
2009). Since
 
1946
 
the
 
National
 
School
 
Lunch
 
Act’s
 
laws
 
and
 
regulations
 
have
 
been
 
amended
 
twenty-two
 
times. Today’s
 
program
 
has
 
over
 
100
 
years
 
of
 
testing,
 
evaluating,
 
and
 
constant
 
research
 
to
 
make
 
sure
 
the
 
program
 
provides
 
the
 
best
 
in
 
nutrition,
 
nutrition
 
education,
 
and
 
foodservice
 
for
 
millions
 
of
 
students. The
 
school
 
lunch
 
program
 
has
 
become
 
so
 
accepted
 
that
 
most
 
Americans
 
don’t
 
think
 
of
 
it
 
as
 
welfare
 
(Winchell,
 
2009). The
 
USDA
 
still
 
maintains
 
control
 
over
 
the
 
program,
 
but
 
there
 
are
 
still
 
funding
 
issues
 
with
 
more
 
than
 
half
 
of
 
school
 
lunches
 
free
 
or
 
reduced. According
 
to
 
the
 
National
 
Nutrition
 
Standards,
 
which
 
are
 
published
 
by
 
the
 
School
 
Nutrition
 
Association,
 
in
 
order
 
for
 
schools
 
to
 
receive
 
federal
 
subsidies
 
for
 
free
 
or
 
reduced
 
lunch
 
meals
 
they
 
must
 
follow
 
Dietary
 
Guidelines
 
for
 
Americans
 
(DGA),
 
which
 
state
 
meals
 
must
 
provide
 
one
 
third
 
of
 
the
 
RDA
 
of
 
protein,
 
vitamin
 
A,
 
vitamin
 
C,
 
iron,
 
calcium,
 
and
 
calories. No
 
more
 
than
 
30%
 
of
 
the
 
meals
 
calories
 
should
 
be
 
from
 
fat
 
and
 
fewer
 
than
 
10%
 
of
 
the
 
calories
 
should
 
come
 
from
 
saturated
 
fat.