Quality foods and school meals

Just when the passage of Local Farms - Healthy Kids was getting our hopes up about nutrition in school lunches, the Seattle Times reports that the rising price of food is hitting schools hard and forcing them to buy worse quality foods, and to raise prices.

There is no easy answer, but I think the best answer is to increase subsidies for healthful school food. If you like to think in simply economic terms, investing in kids’ health now saves money down the road from the effects of poor nutrition on physical and mental wellness, not to mention academic performance.

The quality of the food we feed our kids, like the quality of the education we give them, reflects what we’re telling them they’re worth. It's not that schools want to feed kids poorly; dedicated, caring people work for school districts trying to make sure kids are fed. Yet, with budgets getting tighter around the country, food prices rising, and less money for schools, it sounds like schools have fewer options for feeding kids the nutritious food they deserve and need to help them thrive. Is this what kids are worth to us? Is this the message we want to send?

UPDATE:
Check out this editorial in the Seattle P-I about the issue. They've contacted Seattle Public Schools, which states that the district will not decrease the quality of their food, even if costs go up. Cheers for the P-I and SPS for taking a stand on the importance of nutrition for kids.


Thanks to vnysia for the Creative Commons photo.