Hi,


My topic for this post is

4. Should schools / government agencies be regulating our lunches?

Here it is!

     Schools all over Canada and the USA are enforcing strict new food policies. The policies for each province or state differ, but generally have the same idea; fried, fatty foods will be banned, and in their place will be healthier options.

     A school in Chicago has already banned bagged lunches completely (food from home), and students are required to eat food from the cafeteria. Some other schools confiscate any unhealthy food from student’s lunches, meaning any fried, fatty, processed, or sugary food.

     The schools are not just banning unhealthy food. They are also introducing healthier food, which children might not have the option of eating at home because of money troubles, working parents, etc.

     But not all parents are happy with these changes. Banning lunches from home limits the child’s food options, and does not let the child eat what they really want to eat. It does not let people have the freedom of eating something different, going out to lunch, or having a nice home-cooked meal.

     Also, some parents like to be able to control what is in their kid’s lunch. With some of these new policies make it difficult for parents to be able to monitor their children’s lunches, especially in some schools where children are not even aloud to bring food from home!

     Banning fatty foods from schools does not mean that kids will not find other means of getting it. Instead of eating at the cafeteria, students just go outside to restaurants to eat. To stop this from happening, some governments are trying to eliminate all fast food within walking distance of schools. This not only is unfair to students and people who live in the area, but also to the restaurants in the area.

     But some people favour these policies. Parents who work a lot sometimes do not have the time to make the most nutritious choices while making lunches for their children. And teens that make their own lunches do not include the most nutritious items that they probably should be including. Banning unhealthy foods also helps educate people on what sorts of lunches are healthy, and how to make them taste good as well.

     And the fact that many school lunches do not contain any fruits or vegetables helps in showing the benefits of these new policies. Some people simply do not have the money or time to buy fruits and vegetables, so the fact that healthier options are being introduced into schools is quite beneficial for many students, and their parents.

     Though there are many benefits to these new food policies, I think that they are not as useful as the government might have hoped. Forcing students to eat a cafeteria lunch not only limits their options, but makes students resentful for not getting a choice of what they want to eat. And if students really wanted some fast food, they could just go outside to buy some, which defeats the purpose of the regulations.

     Therefore, I believe that schools and government agencies should not be regulating our school lunches.

Sorry, it is rather long, but I hope it was worth the read! Also a reminder, everyone in the blog has to post by tomorrow evening.

Sources:
http://oncampus.macleans.ca/education/2011/04/26/the-state-has-no-place-in-the-lunch-bags-of-a-nation/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15123065