Our Kids Deserve Better: Hold Schools Accountable for the Foods They Serve
Published by the MinnPost.
Sausage pizza, chocolate muffins, and cinnamon rolls are the typical breakfasts served at the South Metro public school where I teach kindergarten. The lunch menu often features hamburgers, beefy nachos, and macaroni and cheese. Having worked in Twin Cities classrooms for nearly a decade, I know my current school’s meals are not unique. Cheap and highly processed foods take center stage in most of Minnesota’s school meal programs.
Meanwhile, diet-related death and disease are at an all-time high. Powered by increased consumption of processed sugars and meats, obesity rates have doubled among adults, tripled among children and quadrupled among adolescents since 1988, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). These numbers are even more staggering for low-income children and kids of color. Sadly, health problems and medical expenses related to poor nutrition can last a lifetime.
School meals can be a part of the solution. When only one in three children get the recommended servings of fruits and vegetables each day, schools can fight back with plant power on their plates. But for the most part, they’re not. We exist in a food system that prioritizes profits over public health, even when it comes to our children. And whether we intend it or not, our school lunches are quietly educating our kids about what healthy and balanced meals look like.
