Healthier School-lunch standards are under attack

Michelle Obama is on the edge to improve school lunch standards ever since she took the office as First Lady. In fact, this is one of her first Presidential election campaign slogans. She is upset about the progress not only as First Lady but also as a mother. Due to poor nutritional standards in school lunches, 1 in 3 U.S. children will develop Type 2 diabetes, which is a very serious concern. House Appropriations Committee vote to allow schools to opt out of nutrition rules requiring more fruits and vegetables, less sodium, less sugar and more whole-grain products. Republican controlled House of Representatives, food-industry groups and other stakeholders have pushed to allow schools to delay the new standards. Some of these standards have removed the full-sugar sodas and junk foods from vending machines and every child is required to have at least one serving of fruits or vegetables per meal.

People who oppose this are concerned about how costly this program is to implement, some schools may go bankrupt, some students may not even like the new standards and they tend to buy food outside of schools. Many especially older kids usually don’t like eating vegetables and fruits, which results in producing more compost waste. Supporters of the new standards say adjusting kids plates will take time but are worth the effort. In their view better child nutrition through improved school meals is one of the most important investments we can make in America’s future. A recent study shows that efforts to establish healthy habits at an early age are working; kids ages 11 to 16 are eating more fruits and vegetables and consuming less sugar, getting more physical activity, and starting their days with a healthy breakfast.

Then why this program is facing hurdles, what are the marketing tactics? 

Companies like PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Con Agra and Schwan's are among big suppliers for National School Lunch Program (NSLP). These companies spend lot of time, resources and money on professional lobbying and are trying to kill the school nutrition bill. They simply don't want to divert their core marketing plans and strategies, which they have built for many years, the stakes are in billions of dollars. Coca-Cola or PepsiCo cannot start making fruits and vegetables over night, it's plain and simple. They simply cannot afford to lose a lucrative market.

In order to succeed in new school lunch program, companies have to revisit their core business. Often times it is an expensive process where the outcome is not guaranteed. Even if companies are ready to move in new direction to produce standard nutrition foods it requires planning and research. Market research is an expensive procedure and return on investment (ROI) is uncertain. Companies which are known to produce high sugar sodas, high carbs, and high fat food products are influential and aggressive players to delay or even kill the bill, their core business fundamentals simply does not align with new nutrition standards. 

Promoting healthy eating in schools may reduce as many as 25 percent of adolescent obesity cases. Research data has shown that 36 percent of the children in reduced-price lunch programs are “food insecure” and 19 percent of those children are obese. The current school meal standards are primary catalyst for obesity. Congress must come together and realize the danger for future generations, save from the obesity pandemonium. Both Republicans and Democrats must put politics aside and focus on effective implementation strategies. Congress should form a committee to work with the companies who are opposing this program, perhaps, lay out new business opportunities, design a business strategy and research, and educate townships, schools, students where it is a serious necessity.

In reality this is a tough program to achieve, it is a cultural shift, and kids may not like healthy food such as fruits and vegetables in their regular diet, Kids resist the loss of their beloved fried chicken, whole-wheat tortillas going straight to the trash can, and replacing with a familiar flaky whole grain white biscuits, a “severe amount of rejection”, it takes time and requires lots of patience. Government and other health organizations should promote the program, design and develop marketing campaigns and educating Ads, run those on prime time slots, mainly in Kids TV channels such as Disney and PBS. Schools should also play critical role in promoting this program, conduct different research approaches such as surveys, observational and ethnographic, behavioral and experimental research methods.