Do you eat on the run? Have a drive-thru habit? Grab a daily snack from the vending machine? We’ve heard repeatedly how important breakfast is, but lagging lunches are certainly an overlooked health danger in these times. What about your kids?

Some of the worst meals around are school lunches and those from vending machines. We take it for granted that our kids are getting a square meal when we send them school to eat meals established by government guidelines, but our trust is ill-placed.

Consider some of these statistics:

    * Most schools use nutritional guidelines that haven’t been updated since the 1970’s.
    * An average cafeteria meal contains 31 grams of fat.
   * “Fruit-on-the-bottom” yogurt gives your child 30 grams of sugar, not to mention the   negatives associated with pasteurized dairy.
    * 80% of the foods offered in vending machines are candy, chips and pastries.
    * Most granola bars have 15 grams of added sugar.
    * 75% of the drinks in school vending machines are made with artificial juice, high fructose corn syrup and sugar.
    * 75% of high schools and 65% of middle schools have exclusive soft drink contracts.
    * “Natural” Capri Sun Pacific Coolers have 100 calories and 26 grams of sugar.
    * Ketchup and salsa count as vegetable requirements in schools.
    * The USDA reimbursement to schools covers only one vegetable per meal.
    * 2002 data showed that 70% of schools met the nutritional guidelines for some nutrients, 6 to 7% of meals met all the guidelines and 42% of schools offered no fruits or vegetables for lunch.
    * As of 2007, less than 20% of our nation’s schools met dietary guidelines.

Even if your school assures you that the lunches are healthy; that doesn’t mean your child eats them! They can get a bagel and a yogurt instead, a substitute loaded with processed flour, calories, fat, sugar and pasteurized dairy.

Because schools have so many kids to feed, the food is often prepared hours ahead of time. Preservative-laden food holds up much better under these conditions than fresh. And after lining up in their classrooms, lining up at the cafeteria entrance and lining up to be served and cash out; kids are often left with as little as 10-15 minutes to eat, socialize and empty their place of trash—and line up again.

The National School Lunch Program is inextricably entwined with government-subsidized foods and food service lobbyists.

So what’s subsidized? Corn, soy and wheat of course. Highly processed and refined. Orange cheese, processed chicken…schools get a break on these commodities. Industrial lobbyists end up determining what is subsidized.

The commodity processing system allows schools to divert the subsidized food to food processing companies. They turn it into heat-and-serve, unhealthy foods for the schools. The companies get cheap chicken for their nuggets and our kids get gypped. Schools divert about half of their government surplus this way.

Schools also make money from contracts with fast food suppliers, food preparers and purveyors, and vending machine companies. The lowest bid wins. 80% of a school’s food budget goes to outside vendors who provide ready-made meals three-quarters of the time. Vending machine foods are not regulated by any nutritional guidelines.  

Nutritional guidelines? Those for schools don’t even match the USDA posted daily requirements for all of us. Schools are required to provide foods that fulfill a minimum nutrient level over the course of a week. There is no maximum limit. Foods high in calories, preservatives and sodium are no-holds-barred.

In 1994, a School Meals Initiative for Healthy Children was passed that required schools to conform to US dietary guidelines by 1996. Many schools were given a 2-year waiver. In 1996? Nothing happened because no enforcements were built into the initiative.

In 2004, another law was passed. This one mandated that schools create health and wellness policies. Some did, but no committee was established to enforce their implementation.

One amazing study found that when healthy foods were substituted for unhealthy options; kids chose the good over the bad and the swap did not reduce sales.

Another “field study” was conducted by Vice Principal Bryan Bass in Minneapolis. The school district wanted to keep their profitable vending machine contract with Coca-Cola no matter the negative effects on their kids.

Bass kept the contract but he stocked 12 of the 16 machines with water only for 75 cents a bottle; 3 machines carried $1 juices and sports drinks; 1 machine carried $1.25 cans of soda. Bass also banned juice and soda from classrooms.

The school’s profits from the machines nearly tripled in two years. “Water,” Bass says, “has become ‘cool’.”

Eat This, Not That! authors David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding say that only 2% of our kids are getting their daily food requirements and that the USDA recommendations lack qualifiers.

For instance, they point out that “a serving of white rice and quinoa both count toward the daily recommended six servings [of grains], despite the fact that one is packed with fiber, healthy fat and essential amino acids (quinoa) and the other is a nutritional black hole (white rice) and one-quarter of all vegetables consumed by kids are French fries.”

Brain work requires brain food. You’ll save money and teach your kids healthy eating habits by packing them lunch. Be patient and perseverant. And remember that ‘dessert is a treat, not a staple.’

ACTION STEPS:

1. Plan your next trip to the grocery store with brown bag lunches in mind. Choose whole foods over packaged foods.
2. Avoid artificial food coloring and preservatives in foods, as they are linked to ADD/ADHD, hyperactivity and reduced cognition.
3. Look for nitrite and nitrate-free cold cuts at the deli counter.
4. I would recommend staying away from the vast majority of grains in general, but if you are going to make your child a sandwich, opt for a sprouted grain bread like Ezekiel bread.
5. Read the labels on everything, but especially fruit drinks. Even organic juice boxes can have tons of sugar and additives. Water is your child’s best option.
6. Be creative. We eat with our eyes first. Make food fun by including lots of colorful veggies (like carrots, celery and bell pepper sticks) with hummus or guacamole and packing a wide variety of nuts, seeds and dried fruit.