But calling for harming three entire industries, putting American farm families at risk due to loss of livelihood, and forcing schools to feed only vegan meals, not even cheese, which a lot of vegetarians even can’t give up, is basically going to guarantee that your suggestions are going to be ignored and laughed at in disbelief.

It would be so much more practical and productive to suggest as workable way of reducing meat and dairy consumption in the meals, and upping the veggies and wholegrain content, to form a much more balanced, nutritional meal, that parents will actually pat themselves of the back for, rather than screaming blue murder that their child is being deprived of a healthy, “balanced” meal (you know and I know how much healthier a vegetarian balanced meal is, but in a nation that considers cheezwiz a viable calcium source, you have a much bigger fight on your hands just trying to teach them real nutrition vs believing the commercials with the Wonder Bread with 8 Essential Vitamins Added.)

Once you have gotten the parents on board with a diet that actually consists of real food, THEN you can move towards a healthier version of that diet.

And there are a lot of poor kids out there whose parents can barely afford to put food on the table for a decent meal, so the school lunch is often their main meal.

Jamie Lynn is right. So much food is wasted anyway, there needs to be an overhaul, both the sake of the planet and our children’s health.

When they opt for soda from the machine and cheetoes every day (like I did, because 9/10 meals were gross) this isn’t helping the obesity epidemic in children.

Not to mention, more soy and rice milk options are needed in public schools where there are high numbers of minority students (these populations have a higher prevalence of lactose intolerance AND are more likely to have 1-2 out of 3 of their best meals at school because of economic difficulties.)

btw, I have some friends who went to public schools, and I heard bad things about the food in some of those places.

there are better ways to do things. it is foolish to say “just pack a lunch” and ignore the wastefulness of the program as a whole. keeping the status quo here is just plain lazy & irresponsible.

If you don’t like the choices on the school menu, pack your own lunch! It’s cheaper, better for the environment, and a lot better than standing in a line for half of lunch to order some cafeteria food!

But noooooo; the government has to upturn the entire public school cafeteria system for you, so you can ‘go green’ and be crazy and vegan, while still being lazy and not just doing it yourself!
Next you’re gonna complain that a high school with 5,000 students uses disposable plates instead of washing 4,000 dishes every day!