School Lunches: What You Need to Know

How many times have you heard the joke about the cafeteria mystery meat? The heaping spoonful of not-so-tasty beans or the horribly bland vegetables? Do you remember eating those questionable chicken nuggets? More often than not, school lunch hasn't been a favorite for anyone.

What's So Bad About School Lunch?

School lunches are connected to escalating health care costs and the productivity of a generation of future adults. Many of these health issues include ADHD, obesity, and diabetes.

Here's one thing you should think about - Just because food is being provided to children in schools does not make it healthy. In fact, school lunches are:

• Highly processed
• High in sodium
• Loaded with MSG
• Full of preservatives
• Full of sugar
• Made with artificial colors and flavors

Research has shown that these artificial colors trigger behavior problems in children as well as learning and health problems such as:

• Temper tantrums
• Hyperactivity
• Allergic reactions
• Poor concentration

Feingold Association of the United States

The Feingold Association is a non-profit organization formed in 1976. Their main goal is to help families test out the possible link between their child's behavior/learning problems and the ingestions of certain food additives.

Here is a very interesting video regarding artificial colors and flavors.

The FAUS has recently completed a web site that addresses the major issues regarding school food, and gathered what they have learned over the years.

"We have long been interested in school food for several reasons:

 1.  Most of it is filled with synthetic additives our member's children cannot eat.

 2.  We have seen in our own homes that preparing simple, healthy food is not difficult and is usually less expensive than additive-laden options.

 3.  We know that bad food means health problems and that this brings many problems for families, communities and the nation.

 4.  We are very sensitive to the issue of hungry children and believe that one tool to address this is having nourishing food available in schools.

 5.  As we saw the impact that good nutrition had on our families we recognized that many social issues -- from antisocial behaviors to increased health costs -- are related to food and nourishment."

To find more information regarding school lunches, visit www.School-Lunch.org

Let's help improve school food!

Do you pack a lunch for your child(ren)?

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post.