NUTRITION IN SCHOOLS Ashley Reid and Erich Jegier

Students Need Nutritional Lunches  School – students must be sharp and alert  Extracurricular activities – require a substantial amount of energy that students must receive from their lunches  Health – long term effects  Education – students must learn about healthy eating and good nutritional decisions

Problems of Unhealthy Lunches  Are unable to provide students with the energy they need  Food contains additives, preservatives, and chemicals that are toxic to students  Lead to poor dietary habits as students grow up to become adults

Students Need Energy  Wholesome food is essential to allow the body to function properly  Teenagers are growing and need to consume more calories than most people think  r.htm r.htm

Nutrition Facts

Chemicals and Additives  Number of free and reduced lunches is high  Food needs to be produced and distributed in a cost effective manner  The easiest way to make a profit off food is through the use of chemicals and additives  The FDA has approved over 3,000 additives, but these chemicals are still toxic to your body

Students Learn Young  People grow accustomed to how they live, so students who live with bad nutritional choices will grow up to make those same detrimental decisions  Students need to be influenced early by good dietary choices and nutritional food; which can be done by providing them with a wholesome lunch each day

Current State of School Lunches:  About 31% of all children between ages 6 and 19 are overweight  A typical elementary school menu includes entrees such as pizza, nachos, hamburgers, cheese sticks, and Sloppy Joe’s

Pink Slime  scraps of meat and connective tissue swept up from slaughterhouse floors that are doused with a pink chemical to kill dangerous pathogens School cafeterias receive part of the ground beef they serve from the USDA, which is providing 7 million pounds to schools this year

What is Being Done?  Nearly 70% of school districts are reducing or eliminating sodium in foods  In 2004, the National School Lunch Act authorized the use of the Farm to Cafeteria Program which sponsored school gardens and brought in local foods from small farms  42 states have proposed nutritional guidelines for elementary and middle schools

What is Being Done? cont.  Two-thirds of districts are reducing added sugar and half are increasing meatless options such as salads and fruit  A third has started incorporating locally sourced items

Organizations Get Involved  Whole Foods  Great American Salad Bar Project supplies a free salad bar kit to cafeterias in 300 schools nationwide  Farm to School Programs  Pinewood Elementary School  Over 17 CMS schools have introduced school gardens

What About CMS?  High number of free and reduced lunch programs  Food must be made and delivered in bulk to be economical, but this requires the use of preservatives  CMS is doing things to change their lunches for the better

Problems in CMS  The number of students on free and reduced lunch is increasing  Myers Park: 748 students on first week of school  So many students in CMS means bulk orders and set monthly menus are the most economical

Improvements in CMS  Providence removed French fries from the menu two years ago  Four CMS high schools ( including Providence and Myers Park) have introduced new items to their menus

What else can be done?  Programs that not only give students healthier options for lunch, but also educate students on good eating habits  Potentially, high school students could visit middle and elementary schools to promote good nutrition  It is important that students in CMS learn how crucial healthy eating is to a good lifestyle