Free lunches - Work done within the semester PDF

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Courtney Joubert Professor Mankin English 102-WA2 June 8, 2021 Food poverty, obesity rates, and bad health are all lowered when students get free or reduced-price school meals, according to research (“Free School Meals for All.”). Furthermore, the new school meal nutrition guidelines are having a favorable influence on student food choices and consumption, particularly in fruits and vegetables. Currently, more than half of all primary school students miss out on a nutritious school lunch, many due to financial constraints (“Free School Meals for All.”). Free school lunches have been found to promote health and aid in the reduction of health inequities, as well as alleviate the poverty trap that many parents experience while attempting to find work. School lunches must now fulfill strict nutritional guidelines, ensuring that students eat a balanced diet while at school. Improved and more diverse intake of fruits and vegetables, increased awareness of what constitutes a healthy diet, and better dining at home have all been shown in experiments to offer a range of health and educational advantages (“Free School Meals for All.”). This is in addition to research that suggests better behavior, which benefits all children's learning environment and academic success. Healthy school meals may have an impact on children's food diets at home, encouraging them to establish healthy eating habits and introducing them to foods they would not have tried otherwise, such as new fruits and vegetables (“Free School Meals for All.”). While junk food intake has been connected to bad behavior, which has been found to adversely impact children's learning at school, providing healthier school meals has been demonstrated to enhance classroom behavior, hence aiding academic achievement (“Free School Meals for All.”).

Nearly 1 million children might lose their automatic free lunch status as a result of the Trump administration's planned changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, at a time when families throughout the nation are struggling to pay for school meals. While some states are passing legislation to outlaw lunch shaming, and organizations and individual contributors have come forward to help pay off student debt, the actual answer is one that has been circulating for more than a century: free school meals for all students. Only in this way can disadvantaged children lose their stigma and guarantee that no youngster goes hungry. When experimental nonprofit "penny lunch" programs first appeared in America's schools in the 1890s, supporters claimed that all students should be provided with free meals and nutrition instruction as part of their education (Gaddis). However, financially conservative school board members and opponents who feared that free meals were socialist and would teach students (and their parents) that they didn't need to work hard vehemently opposed the concept (Gaddis). This prompted child nutrition advocates to scramble to keep prices as low as possible, including requesting philanthropic donations to support school meals for the poorest pupils. What became the "nearly unanimously agreed upon" school lunch arrangement was outlined in a 1916 Agriculture Department pamphlet. The initial cost of premises, cooking equipment, and the salary of the program director would be funded by school boards, while food and labor would be funded by children's lunch fees and private contributions. This framework served as a guide as school meal programs grew in popularity over the years. However, a lack of resources for low-income kids was just part of the issue. They were also humiliated as a result of the show (Gaddis). Before receiving a free lunch, one administrator requested that students be deloused. Others compelled underprivileged children to clean dishes, serve meals, or assist with

record-keeping in return for free lunches. There will always be shame in the cafeteria until the United States gives free school breakfasts and lunches to all students, regardless of wealth. The detrimental notion that schools food is "welfare food" is reinforced by categorizing kids into three classes of eligibility depending on family income: free, reduced-price, and paid meals (Gaddis). This strategy would enhance the social atmosphere in schools by making socioeconomic disparities less evident, reducing family financial stress, better equipping pupils to study, and leaving schools with more money to spend to farm-to-school initiatives that support local farmers. Anti-lunch-shaming legislation and charitable acts of paying off lunch debt may alleviate some of the most egregious signs of injustice in school cafeterias, but nothing short of federal legislation guaranteeing all children's right to free school meals will address the root cause of the lunch-shaming crisis and ensure cafeterias are inclusive, nourishing, educational spaces (Gaddis). The goal of the program was to "protect the health and well-being of the nation's children" as well as to "promote home consumption of nutritious agricultural commodities and other food (Skurkiss)." However, this is not a new issue. Since its inception in 1946, the National School Lunch Program has had a problematic financial model that depends on children's contributions to complement government money (Skurkiss). As a result, local school officials are under pressure to pursue families with unpaid school meal bills, sometimes known as "lunch debt," in order to balance budgets. The “Free School Lunch for All” campaign is a microcosm of the left's goal, which includes liberals, progressives, the Democratic Party elite, and, more recently, anarchists (Skurkiss). When it comes to politics, Democrats, when they aren't destroying cultural values and national cohesiveness, are always working to increase the number of individuals who are reliant on the government. Despite the fact that it does not work, the

party's usual formula for economic prosperity is more government expenditure and the creation of government employment of some form. Academic standards have been lowered from elementary school to college; college entrance exams have been made easier; eligibility for free school lunches has been eliminated; affirmative action has lowered the standards for admission to colleges and hiring for civil service jobs; citizenship has become cheapened due to a tolerance for illegal aliens, as well as protection of them in sanctuary cities. It's possible that the list might continue on indefinitely. When Democrats have a solid grip on power, such as in huge cities and states like New York and crazy California, the communist agenda will continue uninterrupted (Skurkiss). Fortunately, with Hillary Clinton's loss and the wisdom of the non-coastal states, the left's chances of imposing its stifling agenda on the rest of the nation are substantially lessened. Free meals were provided to around 75% of the city's pupils (Skurkiss). An extra 200,000 kids will now be eligible for the "Free Lunch for All" initiative. The cost of a school lunch is $1.75, thus this will save the newly added families roughly $300 per year (Skurkiss). Officials in New York City tell the privileged few who are concerned about the expense of public education not to worry. This additional expense will not have a negative impact on the school's budget. The city will get "no cost" since the bill will be covered using state and federal funding. Currently, more than half of all primary school students miss out on a nutritious school lunch, ma ny due to financial constraints. While junk food intake has been connected to bad behavior, which has been found to adversely i mpact children's learning at school, providing healthier school meals has been demonstrated to e nhance classroom behavior, hence aiding academic achievement.Currently, more than half of all primary school students miss out on a nutritious school lunch, many due to financial constraints.

When looking at the price of free lunches, it is a small price to pay for all of the advantages that a single meal will have on the future of many.

Citations “Free School Meals for All.” Sustain, www.sustainweb.org/childrensfoodcampaign/free_school_meals/.

Gaddis, Jennifer. “Perspective | It's Long Past Time to Give Every Child Free Lunch at School.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 9 Dec. 2019, www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/12/09/its-long-past-time-give-every-child-freelunch-school/.

Skurkiss, Peter. Free Lunch Programs Encourage Government Dependency. 2018....