President Barack Obama Food Crisis

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and Perdue Farms could focus on disturbing high quality food to supermarkets and restaurants. This would ultimately create a massive rise in the health standards for schools, families, and businesses. With the change in supplier along with substantially healthier food the next step is getting children to eat the more nutritious options.

Having a variety of healthy and nutritious food in cafeterias across America doesn’t guarantee children will consume it. With strict USDA guidelines children are forced to select at least one vegetable or fruit per meal. Former Disney World restaurant manager Kern Halls states, “We don’t want healthy trash cans. We want kids who are eating this stuff” (Wyatt). Getting children involved behind the scenes of cafeterias will create a hands on experience that promotes nutrition along with kitchen experience. First Lady Michelle Obama has attempted to decrease childhood obesity with her Let’s Move campaign. Sam Kass, Mrs. Obama’s food coordinator, has been studying children as a large part of the Let’s Move campaign, he states, "When the First Lady planted and harvested the garden with kids and then cooked a meal with them, those kids ate salad like it was going out of style -- like it was french fries -- and they ate peas like they were the best thing they had ever tasted," (Larsen) If students are able to visually see each process of the food, before actually being consumed, their interest will be sparked. Christopher Daus, a 5th grader attending his local elementary school stated this after being asked if he enjoyed school food, “I don’t hate the food, but the food I have learned how to cook in class (culinary class) is much better for me and taste better then the food the cafeteria serves.” This is frightening, children are claiming to have more knowledge and prefer their own cooking over professionals.

Many children would argue that lunch period are too short leaving little to no time for consuming the food. In actuality, the precious break is used for relaxing, talking, and crunching out last minute work. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health did a study providing information that proves, longer lunch periods lead to healthier lunches. Researchers found that, “Students with less than 20 minutes for lunch ate less across the board—including fewer nutritional fruits and veggies” (Cowan). Nationwide the average lunch period is between 20 and 30 minutes. Extending lunch period in America is a crucial and simple key that will lead to healthier lunches.

Finally, changing the traditional lunchtime schedule will increase students health and decrease food waste. For generations, students have devoured their lunch prior to releasing cooped up energy during recess. All around the country schools are slowly reversing this order. The “Play Before Eat” practice has shown through various studies of being extremely effective. Rather than consuming food before recess many students are finding it useful to reverse this practice. Schools that schedule recess before lunch report that children are better behaved in both the classroom and playground. Children also have been reported to eat more fruits, vegetable and waste much less food. Janet Sinkewicz, an elementary principle stated this, “Kids are calmer after they’ve had recess first...They feel like they have more time to eat and they don’t have to rush” (Fuller). This is a simple change school across America should practice. Reversing the order of recess and lunch has proven to promote healthier children and calmer recess.

As Thanksgiving break comes to an end, children across the country should no longer face unhealthy cafeterias. While students are expected to excel in academics, their prior malnourished stomachs will no longer hold back their academic potential. Processed food has been the top item across American cafeterias . This epidemic has contributed to obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure, along with countless social problems. It is time for America to rebuild the country’s cafeterias, promote a healthy lifestyle for future generations, and stop business from rising as our countries health plummets.