The school lunch program was itself an outgrowth of the turmoil that was World War Two. The program was created by congress as a "measure of national security, to safeguard the health and well-being of the Nation's children." The driving force behind all of this political language was draft problems. Ac

cording to the Food Research and Action Center, the school lunch program had its roots in the draft. Many of the men that were drafted were rejected from service because of conditions that were the result of serious nutritional deficiencies. This being the case, the school lunch program wasn't created out of the selfless good will of the US government, but to create a larger pool of draft eligible men, for the next time we saw fit make war upon some other nation. Even with this inauspicious beginning, the school lunch program sought to make sure that the youth of America were getting their needed nutrition. Current Health, September 2002 states that a hot lunch can contain no more than 30% fat and no more than 10% of the calories in the food can come from fat. Also, meals must contain a variety of foods with plenty of grains and at least one fruit or vegetable each day. Foods must not contain too much sugar or salt. Today, states the FRAC, the national school lunch program meals meet or exceed one third of a child's recommended daily allowance of many key nutrients. Let's compare two students' meals to see which is healthier. Ryan's hot lunch (without the cupcake from his friend) has 577 calories, 25 grams of total fat, and 12 grams of saturated fat. He had one serving of fruit, 26 grams of protein, and 483 milligrams of calcium. Ryan ate more total fat (39 percent) and saturated fat (19 percent) than the dietary guidelines recommend. However, schools can still meet the guidelines by having the numbers average out over a week of lunches. Tyler's lunch from home (this includes both cupcakes) had 1,014 calories, 45 grams (40 percent) of total fat, and 10 grams (9 percent) of saturated fat. He ate 21 grams of protein and 155 milligrams of calcium, but no fruits or vegetables. Tyler's meal met the saturated fat guidelines, but had too much total fat. Tyler ate more calories and total fat than Ryan did. Ryan ate more protein, calcium, and fruit than Tyler did. Which meal would you say is the healthier choice? Additionally, over the last school year, 24.7 million children participated in the national school lunch program, and over 98,000 schools and residential child care institutions participated in the program.

With so many people benefiting from this program, it might seem hard to find where the flaws are, but there are many. The first major system flaw is the fact that many children aren't getting the food that they are supposed to. According to Current health, september 2002, while there are federal regulations proh

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Approximate Word count = 1708
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)