My recent school food blog post has clearly hit a nerve with many people, resulting in hundreds of comments. Parents are defending their rights to ensure that their children have the healthiest food possible and to choose what their children eat.
I couldn’t agree more with them on this point. What I ask — what is so important to me and has been for the last decade and a half — is that we also ensure that all children, including those who are less fortunate, have access to healthy food.
Parents have always been — and continue to be — the root of change in school communities. Their voices, actions and advocacy make all the difference in a school’s success. Parents who care passionately about what their children eat for lunch are also the parents who can “do the most good” to help improve their school food program.
Supporting healthy school food is important. I’m the first to admit that school food has a long way to go, and I’d never suggest that parents buy school meals they don’t feel comfortable feeding their children.
But school food has also come a long way, and many schools are making tremendous progress in improving school lunch. We all know kids, though. They often resist change, especially when it happens on their lunch tray.
And with this switch to healthier, fresher food, participation in school lunch programs is down, not up. According to the School Nutrition Association, over one million fewer kids are eating school lunch, not because it’s unhealthy, but because it’s healthier.
Without support from the very people who insist on healthy food for their kids, schools that provide all children with healthy, fresh food are going to struggle. And they are going to fail in making sustainable, systemic change in healthy school food.
And this is why I ask every parent of school age children to “Do One Thing” to make a positive difference. Not interested in buying a school lunch? OK. Go to your school administrators and tell them the reason why. Be a squeaky wheel in the engine that is not providing healthy, delicious food in your child’s school.
I speak from my own experiences. When I started making healthy changes in school districts I’ve worked with, many students stopped eating the food. Where was the chocolate milk? Where was the processed chicken nuggets and neon-colored cheese sauce? What’s with this salad bar? It takes time and education for students to accept changes.
Support during that period of transition was crucial for the success of healthy school meals. I appealed to parents whose kids had stopped buying school lunch. I asked them to look at the menu, visit their school cafeteria, have lunch with their children. And if they liked what they saw, then support the changes by buying school lunch a few times a week or whenever it made sense for their family. I am proud of the food our kids eat, but I couldn’t do it without families’ support.
I am a lunch lady. I am dedicated to our nation’s school children and their health. I want to help schools all over the country meet their goals for healthier food. It’s not a one-person job. There are lots of ways to help. Buying the healthy options your school offers is just one way. Please don’t turn your back on school lunch and the kids who eat it. Everyone can Do One Thing. And you can make a difference.
More from U.S. News
Healthy Snacks for When You Feel Hangry
Opting In to Support Healthy School Food for All Children originally appeared on usnews.com