Title: Unhealthy School Lunches Not Making the Grade
Headings: Unhealthy School Lunches Not Making the Grade
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Unhealthy School Lunches Not Making the Grade
Processed foods that are high in fat, sugar, and salt have become a mainstay of lunches in schools across America and the results are in — experts say these unhealthy school lunches are a contributing factor to the childhood obesity epidemic. A movement is afoot to bring change to school lunch programs across the country.

Content: One of the biggest deficits is the lack of fruits and vegetables and whole grains.” But there are many obstacles to improving unhealthy school lunches, not the least of which is money. Schools receive $2.68 for each free meal served through the National School Lunch Program, a federal meal program. That $2.68 must cover payment not just for the food, but also any labor, facility, and structural costs a school incurs. Additionally, schools are mandated to use part of that money for milk purchases. “It’s hard to have a meal that is less processed on less than a dollar even when you’re working with a big school system,” Davis says. Another obstacle to addressing the problem is that some schools have given contracts to food management companies. Cory Schreiber, Culinary Instructor at The Art Institute of Portland, says the contracts amount to one of the biggest changes to school lunches. It’s also one that can cause more problems. “The quality goes down;