Marvin Sura
Ms. Nelson
Dual Credit English 4
October 7, 2019
Unhealthy School Lunches
Have you ever noticed that school lunches have never served any type of healthy meals? I always see students eat unhealthy food everyday and none of them notices it. It has gotten to the point that some students refuse to waste money on a meal that does not benefit their health. Many of those students have reported to the district and they took it into consideration. Since then, the district has changed some of the meals to make them healthier as they suppose.
One of the effects of schools serving unhealthy lunches is that it can cause obesity. Unhealthy school lunches leads to obesity. Obesity leads to sickness. Sickness leads to death. Obesity is like a disease that is difficult to cure. Almost one-third of US children are suffering from obesity and the school districts have changed some choices but still some schools are left to only have unhealthy foods and snacks in their campuses. There is an estimate that over 150 million of Americans are either obese or over weight and many of those were caused by school lunches. Poor health like obesity can lead to students to not be present to school which can cause a lower income to the teachers. Many parents have protested to improve school lunches and to have healthier choices but for the most part all the school does is to lower the fat on meals. Which doesn’t do any difference at all.
Another effect that unhealthy school lunches causes is mental effects. According to a 2012 article written by registered dietitian Timi Gustafson states that not getting enough essential nutrients at meals may lower kids' IQ scores, memory capacities, fine motor skills, social skills and language skills into early adulthood and beyond. It can affect the students future and their education. Those effects have affected many people around the US and they are mainly caused by unhealthy school lunches. It can even influence the students sleeping patterns which then can cause a lack of effort and their behavior decisions in school. No teacher would want to have a problem with a student with bad behavior just because they serve unhealthy lunches to students. Not only are students affected by this but also their parents because parents want their kids to eat healthy, be healthy and to not become obese. I have a friend who has stopped eating school lunches because he believes that school lunches made him get bigger in size and unhealthy. He now has to bring his own food from his house to school. He prefers not to waste money on unhealthy lunches that does not benefit his health. A 2009 investigation by USA Today found that meat served in U.S. schools wouldn’t meet the quality or safety standards of fast-food restaurants. As Ocean Robbins says in his upcoming book 31-Day Food Revolution, “As long as tens of millions of families depend on school meals for a fundamental part of daily nutrition, we all have a stake in making them healthier.” They also say that if we fix this problem students will have a better academic performance, learning and memory, concentration and it will reduce obesity overall.Many students only rely on school lunches for food.
The reason why many people are protesting about having unhealthy lunches is because it has endless effects that can end badly. Students can get obese and mental health problems from the unhealthy lunches that there school provides. Some districts tried to change their meals but nothing actually changed. There is still unhealthy lunches that many students get affected by and not that many of those students notices it. Unhealthy lunches creates many dangers to our country and the effects are increasing drastically. The world can end if we don’t stop this now. There are many ways to avoid the effects of unhealthy school lunches but it is going to take a movement to change it. Students deserve better meals for lunch so that they won’t get affected by the effects of unhealthy school lunches.
Oberst, Lindsay, and Ocean Robbins. “Why School Lunches in America Are Unhealthy and 10 Ways You Can Take Action to Improve Them.” Food Revolution Network, 29 Aug. 2018, foodrevolution.org/blog/school-lunch-in-america/.
Word Count: 752
Introduction Method: Question
3 Major methods of elaboration:
Example: Paragraph 4
Facts: Paragraph 2 and paragraph 3
Expert Opinion: Paragraph 3
3 Rhetorical Devices Used:
1) Anadiplosis: Paragraph 2
2) Hyperbole: Paragraph 4
3) Simile: Paragraph 2