School lunches revive ill-begotten memories of cardboard like pizza, soggy french-fries, and in general, a plate full of disgusting starches, as approved by the local school board. While this may not always be the case, generally in the private sector schools catering a healthy menu are rare, and very far between. Dorito’s, Little Cesar’s Pizza, and Little Debbie snack cakes are offered to millions of children via free lunch programs, all federally funded and approved.
Why is it this way, and more importantly, who is profiting from shoving this non-nutritional, belly stuffing, garbage down the throats of America’s children? It may interest you to learn that many schools purchase their food at highly discounted rates, directly from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Initially though, it is all purchased from the private sector. As is the norm with government contracts, a great deal is purchased from a limited few.
In 2013, over $500 million worth of food products were purchased by the USDA, from only 62 companies, with over half of those sales going to six corporate giants. Rather than list all contracted companies, let’s have a look at the six major corporations, profiting the most.
Jennie-O Turkey Store LLC – $89.3 million
Tyson Foods Inc. – $70.1 million
Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation – $56.2 million
Cherry Meat Packer’s Inc. – $42.5 million
Central Valley Meat Co Inc. – $42.2 million
American Beef Packers Inc. – $30.7 million
Of course, schools can purchase from the private sector if desired, but all foods must now meet a set of guidelines introduced last summer requiring a particular amount of grains, fruits, and vegetables. Some profiteering manufacturers have met the basic minimal requirements by introducing whole grain flour corndogs, or antibiotic-free chicken nuggets. While these may appear to be healthy options, they can scarcely can be considered nutritious. They do just enough to maintain their contracts at the expense of your child’s health.
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine recently conducted a study of ads being targeted at the School Nutrition Association. The SNA represents the over 55,000 food service’s employees who make the decisions concerning what will be served in their respective cafeterias. Of the 106 ads reviewed, 23 were from Pizza Hut and Dominos, pushing their pepperoni pizzas as viable menu items. Pizza serves up the second-largest helping of saturated fat, topped off by being the third leading source of sodium. Yet these products qualify for school menus.
As you can clearly understand by this brief synopsis, the USDA and the SNA, generally do not give two hoots concerning the nutritional value of what is being force fed to our kids. It’s politics and big business profits, as usual. Every concerned parent should request a visit to their child’s school cafeteria. They should inquire as to the type foods being served, and the foods sources. If they do not meet with their rigid and rightly deserved standards, they should do what more and more concerned parents are doing every day, and pack a lunch.