Michelle Obama worked with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to create the Healthy, Hungry-Free Kids Act in 2010. This act funded free lunch programs and also set a new nutrition standard to combat childhood obesity. Implementation of this law caused the removal of foods high in fat and sugar and limited lunch options for students. Today, many high schoolers hope to modify this 14-year-old policy.
This year, junior Anthony Harvey is looking to ease up on the food school laws. Harvey has created a Google form petition to get rid of the nutrition policies set by the food act. “Most of us are old enough to make our own decisions, and we can choose what we want to eat,” Harvey stated. “When we were kids in elementary school, we didn’t know what foods were good for us, but this policy doesn’t make much sense for high school students,” Harvey added.
Harvey also notes that even the supposedly healthy food students are served at school now is still processed and heavily manufactured.
Many other students also agree with Harvey and have filled out his petition in hopes to include more food options in the cafeteria. Senior Aayush Deshpande is one of the many students who have filled out this petition. “I was very young when this policy went into effect, but I remember there being many tasty lunch options before. I came across Harvey’s petition on Instagram and completely agreed with what he was trying to change,” Deshpande said. This need for better tasting food options seems to be a common theme among most students.
While this petition is looking to add more lunch options, it does not look to create an unhealthy cafeteria. “Keep in mind that this will not completely remove healthy options from the menu. It will just allow people to choose an alternative meal that isn’t so healthy. Students will be able to have free will with what they choose to consume,” Harvey explained. By loosening these laws and regulations, cafeterias across the nation would have more variety in their meals and happier students overall.
The debate over school lunch policies raises an important question on whether or not the responsibility for health choices should shift from the school to the students. While the Healthy, Hungry-Free kids act is beneficial for younger kids, many high schoolers seek more freedom. Harvey’s petition reflects the need for cafeterias to offer healthy choices along with a greater variety of meals to meet the needs of all students.
