Rotunda Blog

       The project in the rotunda that interested me the most was the one about school lunches and their actual nutritional value. As a student this caught my interest as I am the person the governments choices are impacting. With the programs School Nutrition Association  working alongside Michelle Obama they have reinvented what the school lunch is suppose to be and its standards. No longer is unhealthy pizza and fries allowed but to replace these food is whole-wheat food with healthy sides. Prior to this new lunch plan school-food companies did make strides in reducing fat and salt in their products, the average school lunch in 2009 contained 1,375 milligrams of sodium, almost twice as much as federal dietary guidelines recommend for a single meal. Worst of all, competitive foods, most often desserts, salty snacks and pizza were adding an extra 277 calories a day to the diets of the children who bought them.
      Although the lunch foods may no longer taste as good as the unhealthier options it may be helping the future generations from suffering the problems its constant consumption can cause. As now one in three American kids are obese or overweight. That will cause more than half of the adult population by the year 2030 to suffer from obesity which would lead to millions of cases of diabetes, stroke and heart disease. For the first time ever our generation due to this issue is setup to not outlive our parent due to the world we live in, filled with fast food and creations to do everything for us.