On January 24, 2012, over 400 “lunch ladies” who work in Chicago Public Schools rallied outside of the CPS district headquarters to advocate for their ability to prepare food for students, provide feedback to administrators, inform parents about nutrition, and upgrade school kitchens. Their motives were heartwarming. For years, many lunch workers were unable to inform parents and students about the nutritional quality of the food because the workers were uneducated about the food, and they also feared backlash from administration if they spoke freely. Even though CPS had adopted the new national lunch standards by eliminating daily nachos, incorporating more whole grains, and presenting new vegetables each day, there were obstacles to these improvements actually making kids eat more healthfully.

The cafeteria workers offered a unique, ground-level perspective. They reported that students frequently lacked the knowledge or desire to eat the healthier foods. Many, it seemed, preferred to skip lunch rather than eat vegetables. In fact, the vegetables were pre-prepared, frozen vegetables with no seasonings at all on them. The workers also claimed during their rally that the kitchens they work in are only reheating kitchens which are capable of preparing frozen, pre-packaged foods, but incapable of preparing actual fresh food.

These cafeteria workers, the beloved lunch ladies, obviously care about the quality of food they see children eat, and they offer helpful feedback in how to better care for children’s nutrition. Their ground-level perspective is much appreciated, but it raises the question: are these workers the best individuals to decide what children eat at school?

Who should decide what children eat at school? The workers? The administrators? The parents? Maybe the government? Perhaps the commercial food companies? Or what about the children themselves? Who, really, is in the best position to determine what gets on the menu? It seems like the more we think about each of these options, the less credible any of them seem to be:

The Workers – while they enjoy a great perspective of what kids eat and why, one of the protestors’ chief complaints was that cafeteria workers were not educated enough to even tell kids what they were eating. Much more education would be needed before these workers could make informed decisions about what to serve or not serve.

School Administrators – Let’s face it. School administrators’ experience and strong points are not in food. The cafeteria workers actually reported that they hardly ever see administrators in the cafeteria, eating the healthy lunches. And if you look at the average school administrator’s waistline you’ll notice that they probably aren’t the best authority on nutrition. These individuals are good at making decisions for education, but school lunches is one of the last things on their plate they want to deal with.

The Parents – This option seems to make the most sense at first. After all, parents make decisions about their children’s well-being on a daily basis in other areas. They decide what the child eats at home too. However, more and more parents’ own nutrition have decline, and their ability to make informed decisions about what to teach their children about food gives way to easy, cheap, fattening food. Also, the parents’ input into the school menus will create logistical nightmares. In Chicago schools alone there are over 400,000 students. Can you imagine all of their parents giving suggestions? We might as well have 400,000 menus.

The Government – Okay, let’s patronize this idea and pretend for a moment that it might actually work. The government actually has attempted in the past to set national guidelines and recommendations. In fact, Michelle Obama – one of healthy foods’ most outspoken advocates – plans on officially revealing the healthier new national lunch standards on Wednesday, January 25. The government setting standards is a start. They can even personally inspect lunchrooms if they want. As the cafeteria’s workers reported, though, this still might not have an impact on what kids actually choose to eat.

Food Providers –Food providers could probably come up with multiple menus that feature healthful, cost-effective food choices. However, the drawback here is that the fox is guarding the chicken coop. The very people who will profit most from the providing of food shouldn’t necessarily be the people who are deciding what that menu and cost will be.

The Children – The only people left in this equation are the children themselves. Our American values make us enjoy when people, even children, having the freedom to make their own decisions. Unfortunately, this freedom works out exactly the same way as we’d expect – the children choose to eat the less healthy foods, or they choose to not eat at all. It seems like no matter what kinds of improvements the adults attempt, the children’s taste buds are the ones that have ultimate control. But does this mean that we should give in to the children? Certainly not, unless we would like to continue to serve pizza, fries, nachos, and candy to them.

So where does this leave us? Of all the players involved, no single entity seems like the answer to the question of who should decide what children eat at school. Should we just admit defeat and serve food that is junky, unappetizing, or more expensive? High school students themselves have said the following about their school lunches:

? “I only eat the food here on certain days. It depends what they’re serving.”

? “Our salad line is terrible – there’s hardly any options for things to put on the salad, the lettuce tastes old, and it’s just as expensive as a salad at Panera.”

? “I usually have no idea what I’m eating. I mean, I know it’s meat, but the ground beef tastes exactly like the fritter and the country steak – it’s weird.”

? “It would be cool if the adults did things to make us eat better. Most kids like the junky food, but we know it’s bad for us.”

? “I have no clue what would make me eat better. Maybe if the food tasted good it would be worth it. Sometimes I’ll just eat an apple or a cookie from home if I don’t feel like eating anything here.”

The students’ statements are pretty telling: it seems as though students are willing to eat healthy food, but two major obstacles hold them back:
a. The food MUST taste good
b. There need to be ONLY healthy options – or else the unhealthy options will be selected.
c. The students need to KNOW what they are eating, both its contents and nutrients.

So, while you cannot literally put food into students mouths (or can you…?), you need to at least develop strategies to address these three main issues with students: taste, options, and knowledge. If you can attack all three of these, then you’ll be equipping students with the motivation to put good food into their own mouths. The cafeteria ladies may be on the right track with some of their requests to the CPS school board. They know that they themselves aren’t the people with the answers, but they are certainly willing to lend their own perspectives and experiences to help the situation.

Here are ideas for how you can play your role appropriately in advocating for student health:

1. Find ways to make the food taste appetizing. Sure, loading on a sauce or piling on salt with make a different in taste, but it’s still not a healthy option. Creatively advocate for making sure your food is fresh and well-seasoned. It’s not easy to compete with a bag of chips, but you don’t stand a chance if you’re driving to serve out unflavored frozen food.

2. Advocate for kitchen upgrades. You can’t serve real food without real kitchens. And you can’t serve good food without good kitchens. Make sure that you pay attention to whatever improvements are possible in your kitchen, from cooking ware to appliances to preparation processes. You’re the food expert at your institution, so make the administration aware of what needs improving and why it needs it.

3. Look at the menu you have and consider which ways you might be able to reduce or eliminate options that you know are unhealthy for kids. Get creative with ways to steer students towards the better options, like putting unhealthy foods are more-difficult-to-reach locations, offering way more appetizing looking healthy foods, or only allowing unhealthy foods on Fridays as a “special” after a good week. You can also advocate to your administration about different menu options and service providers.

4. Knowledge is power. Train and empower your staff to talk openly to students and parents about what is in the food they are eating. Encourage students to ask questions and to have your staff give honest answers.

5. In addition to talking with students, provide written campaigns and information that promote healthy eating. Healthy eating requires training, so positive posters around the school and the cafeteria, clearly labeled nutrition information, and admirable adults eating healthy food all contribute to the culture of healthy eating.

6. Finally, remember that you’re in a school where the focus is education. If children are being educated about what to think in science, history, math, English, and so on, then why can’t they also be educated about what they should eat and why? Get the administrators and teachers on board with promoting healthy eating to children in the classroom – that way it won’t seem so foreign in the cafeteria.

Although there are a lot of well-meaning, concerned adults that want children to eat better, the real answer is unlikely to be derived from any individual source of authority. Instead, it is up to each group – including you – to examine their role in the culture of eating and to play their part as responsibly as possible.
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