Showing posts with label USDA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label USDA. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Tuesday, September 25th, & LUNCH PRICE POLL RESULTS!

     What's for lunch Tuesday, September the 25th? Salami hoagie with broccoli salad.


     Here is a breakdown of what I ate for lunch on Tuesday the 25th.
  • 1 salami hoagie with cheese
  • 1/2 cup cut watermelon
  • 1/2 cup apricots
  • 1 can tomato juice-----------30 calories
  • 1/2 cup broccoli salad
  • 1/2 pint 1% low-fat milk-----100 calories
  • Miracle Whip----------------15 calories
     On any day that I don't want or like what is served for the hot entree at school, I can get a sandwich.  I probably eat a sandwich two or three times a week, just because I know what I am getting and know what to expect with it.  In the last couple of weeks, there have been many cucumber, broccoli, and cauliflower salads, all of which are very good.  They almost taste like my grandma made them!  This particular salad had cut broccoli, diced onions, crumbled bacon, white raisins and some sort of mayo based sauce.  I will probably be getting this quite often, when it is available.
     The results from the poll, Lunch Price, which asked the question, "How much does a lunch in your or your child's school cost?" are in!!  With a total of 68 votes over 7 days, here are the results.  

$ 3.25 and above
  5 (7%)
$ 2.75 - $ 3.25
  9 (13%)
$ 2.25 - $ 2.75
  39 (57%)
$ 1.75 - $ 2.25
  10 (14%)
Free - $ 1.75
  5 (7%)

     The price with the biggest number of respondents was $2.25 - $2.75, with 39 votes.  Free to $1.75 and $3.25 and above have the same number of votes, 5.  Do you have a suggestion for the next poll on The School Lunches Suck! Blog? If so, email me or comment below with your idea!! 
     If you are aware of what the High Plains Journal is, Trent Loos wrote an article in his column, The fight against the path to starvation, and he mentioned the blog in it!! How cool!!

-----Thanks to the many readers, The School Lunches Suck! Blog now has over 12,500 page views!! Thanks to you for your support!!  Don't forget to check back often for more posts from The School Lunches Suck! Blog, and to 'share' the blog on Facebook with friends and family!!!

Friday, September 21, 2012

'We Are Hungry' YouTube Video!

     This week, I was told of a very interesting YouTube video titled, 'We Are Hungry'.  If you haven't seen it yet, definitely check it out below!

   
     Immediately I knew that it would be a hit.  When I first viewed it, it had over 15,000 views in two days, and as I am writing this post, it is just shy of 50,000 views!!  I was so interested in the video, I contacted the person who posted the YouTube video to ask a couple of questions.  The video poster, , was happy to answer my questions.  I was most curious about why blk5348 posted the video, and how the idea was created.

" I am one of the few teachers that still occasionally eats lunch at school. Partially because I have a really short amount of time to eat, so it's just easier to eat there. I'm very active during the day and have a high metabolism and burn through a lot of calories and protein in a day. One day I went through the line and asked why we weren't getting meat. I was told the cheese that was in the breadstick accounted for the protein allotment so they weren't allowed to give us meat in the sauce. I was pretty upset, so I took a picture of my meal and posted it on Facebook with the story. The response and conversation was overwhelming."

With a little help from a fellow teacher, blk5348 was able to come up with the video idea, and with the lyrics from her colleague, they talked to kids to see if they would be interested.  

"From there, we talked to students and parents, got it approved by the administration and the rest is history." 

     What an awesome video!! 

-----There is still time to give your answer in The School Lunches Suck! Blogs poll: Lunch Price, so head over there and vote today!!  Did you know that you can receive The School Lunches Suck! Blog in your email inbox? Just use the 'follow' tool on the right side of the page!!

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

2nd Guest post from LUKAS!!!

Lukas sent me over another guest post this week, I hope you enjoy reading it!

Hello again,
In the past few weeks I have noticed an increased popularity on the subject of which we are fighting for, school lunches. Many of those fighting are farmers, they understand the importance of a healthy meal, not to mention the fact that what they raise is being used to feed our youth.  Do you think that Mr. Obama is eating 800 calories per meal? My guess is definitely not. One carton of 2% white milk is equal to 100 calories and has 8 fluid ounces of content. A handful of the students at my high school are just getting out of Physical Fitness and are not only hungry, but also thirsty. If you drink 16 ounces of milk you already have 200 calories of your lunch which is equivalent to ¼ of your meal. One baby carrot supplies you with just 5 calories.


On this lunch plate there are 7 carrots shown, with 35 calories for the total. The average sized muffin resting there on my plate has 180 calories, I honestly think my mouth is big enough that I ate it in one bite. The cup of pineapple on my plate has nearly 50 calories, but there interesting part is the potatoes. Now as I’ve said before I have been on a farm all of my life, and I’ll tell you this; we LOVE our mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, buttered bread, and roast lunch! After we eat, we head out the door to continue working in the 100⁰ heat, or the freezing cold snow, and I am yet to gain a pound. But isn’t the main point of being a student, to get an education? How are we supposed to focus with the bare minimum amount of fuel sitting in our tanks? None the less, this portion of mashed potatoes and gravy is packed with 400 calories. 
Let’s add all this up.



Milk:100
Pineapple:50
Carrots:35
Muffin:180
Main Course:400









That equals up to a grand total of, 765 calories! I know that on an average practice of 45 minutes I burn 700 calories. That doesn’t include the calories I burn trying to recover, which continues to add up all day long. An teenage boy, who DOES NOT play sports is supposed to attain 3,000 calories per day. If practice is at 6:30 a.m. I burn over 1,500 by 9 o’clock! These meals are outrageous! In the next few days I will be contacting a Senate Representative and a man who writes articles in the High Plains Journal, to speak of this issue and way they could possibly help us win the battle. Until then, find a vending machine.

-Lukas


-----Be sure to give your answer in this weeks poll: Lunch Price, which ends Sunday. After that, I'll make sure to post the results!! Tomorrow, I will be meeting with the food service director at my school, so we can talk about the blog. Be on the look out for a post about that, and soon an interview with some of the people involved in the YouTube video We Are Hungry!!!-----

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Garden City guest poster...Legit Lindy!

I am very excited to announce that The School Lunches Suck! Blog is going to start featuring another guest poster, Lindy! Like me, Lindy is a senior in high school who is not very happy with the new federal guidelines regarding school lunch. Be on the lookout for more posts from Lindy, and later this week another post from Lukas!
Enjoy!


My name is Lindy and I am an unhappy and underfed senior at Garden City High School in Garden City, Kansas.  This year, I will be a member of the first graduating class out of our district’s brand new, $97 million high school.  I will also be a member of probably the most underfed senior class that’s ever had the privilege of being a Garden City Buffalo.  Seriously.

Until this year, Garden City’s juniors and seniors had the 

privilege of leaving campus for lunch.  For most, that meant a quick run home for a bite to eat, a walk across the street to Subway, or a mad dash to one of the many nearby fast food restaurants.  But, our new school came with new rules—one of those being that we are now all stuck on campus for lunch.

Honestly, the majority of my school’s 2000+ students weren't really very worried about it.  Although we were being stripped of one of the few privileges of being upperclassmen, we were promised that we would have more lunch options and a higher quality of food coming out of our brand spankin’ new kitchen.  Boy, were we in for a surprise the first day when we walked in the cafeteria and saw what they had to offer!
Everyday, we pretty much have three options: hamburgers, pizza, or some type of Mexican food, and don’t forget a handful of soggy, half-baked French fries.  The quality of the food isn't exactly the greatest, but the portions are even worse.  I don’t participate in sports, but I do lead an active lifestyle.  By the time I get home from work, I’m STARVING.  I can’t even imagine how hungry the football players, volleyball girls, or cheerleaders are after they get done with practice.  When high school students are being fed the same portions as grade school students, you know that you have a problem.

The majority of our school’s athletes survive by eating multiple meals.  It’s not uncommon to see a football player eat three school lunches in one sitting.  With our school lunches ringing in at $2.30, that means that the football players are paying $6.90 every day just so they aren't hungry.  Wouldn't it be more reasonable to feed us one meal that actually fills us up?



What’s on the menu today? 9/18/12
-One Beef Enchilada
-Handful of Tortilla Chips
-Salsa
-Packaged Fruit
-Milk



My fellow students, it’s time to speak up.  If we don’t tell them that we’re unhappy, nothing will ever change.  We’re the ones eating the meals, we should have a say.  Let’s do something about it!

Until Next Time,
Lindy


Thanks, Lindy!!!

-----Make sure to share The School Lunches Suck! Blog on Facebook, and to 'Follow' on the right side of the page to receive the blog in your email inbox!!-----

Keep sending in your pictures of your or your childrens lunch, for the post Lunch from Alabama to Wyoming!! Pictures can be sent to teubks@gmail.com

Until next time, stay full!!

Monday, September 17, 2012

Monday, September 17th, & OBP UPDATE!!

     What's for lunch Monday, September 17th?  Pepperoni hoagie with green beans.  
     Here is a breakdown of what I ate for lunch on Monday, September 17th.
  • 1 pepperoni hoagie with cheese
  • 1/2 pint milk.................................100 calories
  • 1/2 cup green beans
  • 1/2  cup mixed fruit
  • 1/2 cup bell peppers
  • 1 juice box...................................100 calories
  • Miracle Whip ..............................15 calories
     Today, a sloppy jo on a bun with french fries was offered for the hot item at lunch.  I do not necessarily like sloppy jo's, so I got something from the hoagie line instead.  The fresh green beans were actually pretty fresh, and much tastier than green beans out of the can.  These are the kind of green beans that I can definitely live with.  The pepperoni hoagie, on the other hand, was something quite different.  I opened up the bun to put on some Miracle Whip, and was shocked at how few pepperoni there were.  I counted six small slices on the sandwich.  With a slice of cheese too, there went my  2 daily ounces of protein.  It seems a bit ridiculous to me that the USDA decided on 10-12 ounces a week for protein at lunch.  What were the deciding factors on the limit anyway?  Hopefully I can address that in a future post.

     Remember last week, when I wrote about Operation: Paper Bag?  Well, Jack and a couple of other students of Allentown High school had a meeting with a few administrators from their school, and representatives of their food service provider, Chartwells.  They came to an agreement, which is not yet 100% final, but a decision nonetheless that is a 'win' for the students of Allentown High.  A post on the Operation: Paper Bag Facebook page updates followers on how the meeting went.  
     ". . . one of the available and best rounded options at the time would be to release ourselves from the government program. What that would mean is that the portions would increase back to the size of lunches last year. However, to make up for the funding that the government *used* to give, Allentown would have to      increase the current prices."
Jack, who I talked to last week, was pleased with the results.  "I feel like it's a good solution, and everyone is happy with it," he told me.  Keep posted on more updates from Jack and OPB!

-----If you are a student in a any school across the country, or a parent of a child in school, take a picture of lunch and send it to me, for our post Lunch from Alabama to Wyoming.   Pictures can be sent to teubks@gmail.com-----

'Share' the School Lunches Suck! Blog on Facebook with your friends and family, and thank-you for your continued support!!

Until next time, stay full!





     


Sunday, September 16, 2012

Poll: Lunch Price

     For this week's poll on The School Lunches Suck! Blog, we asked the question, "How much does a lunch in your or your child's school cost?"  Answer below!!!

-----The School Lunches Suck! Blog has over 9,000 views, thanks for your support, and keep it up!! Help spread awareness by sharing the blog with your friends and family, and by following the blog with the tool on the right side of the page!-----

     Send in your pictures for our post, Lunch from Alabama to Wyoming, so we can get a picture of lunch from every state in the USA!!! Pictures can be sent to teubks@gmail.com  



How much does a lunch cost in your or your child's school

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Lunch from Alabama to Wyoming

     This week, someone who reads the blog told me they had a suggestion for a blog post.

O- Hey Travis, you know what you should do for your blog?

Me- What?

O- You should get a picture of a lunch from every state!! It would be cool to see what a lunch from every state looks like!

     We promptly discussed how cool it would be, and what all the different lunches would look like.  So to my readers, I ask you this:  
     If you are a student in any school in any state across America, send me a picture of your lunch!! Parents: if you have a student in school, get them to take a picture of their lunch, and then send it to me!! 
I will post the pictures I get weekly, and when I have every state, from Alabama to Wyoming, I'll write a summary of what I found!

If you send in a picture, please include:

  • First name
  • State
  • Grade level
  • What you ate
  • (Optional) City
Send your pictures to teubks@gmail.com with the subject "Lunch in (your state)"     Encourage your friends, children, grandchildren, ANYONE you know in a different state to send one in!!   Hope to see 50 pictures really soon!!

Until next time, stay full!

Photo Credit: www.daily-quotes.net

Thursday, September 6, 2012

#BrownBaggingIt

     In many school districts across the country, several students have decided to bring their lunch this year.  Yesterday, I had a link to the Beatrice Daily Sun article explaining that almost 40% fewer students buy lunch at BHS.  But, it seems that it is a growing trend across the country.  For those familiar with Twitter, a trending hashtag (#) in recent days is #BrownBaggingIt.  According to an article from the Huffington Post, "Plum High School student Sean Doyle started it all by going on Twitter, telling everyone to bring their own lunch to avoid purchasing from the school for a day."  He then created the #BrownBaggingIt hashtag, and ever since it has become a trending topic on twitter. 
     Some say that bringing your own lunch to school will die out as the year goes on, but the majority of students I've talked to think that it will continue.  "I bring my lunch now, and plan on bringing it for the rest of the year.  The lunches aren't going to get any better," said senior Shelby.  Another student, senior Dylan said something quite similar, "It's becoming part of my morning routine.  It just fits in, and doesn't even take that much more time."  
     This topic--school lunches--has received a lot of attention in the last few weeks, as parents, students, and teachers get back into the school groove.  Several people, from the West coast to the East, have written about lunch in a similar way that I have--a blog.  One of my favorite posts I have read is School Lunch Soapbox, written by a woman named Annie, a mother of three from South Dakota.  In her post, Annie describes her feelings and a story tied with school lunch when she was a 9th grade teacher.  Make sure to check it out--it's a good read!!
     
-----This brings me to my next idea......I am going to start featuring guest bloggers, letting them tell you from their point-of-view how the lunch in their school is!! Be on the lookout from posts from Lukas, Shane, and a couple of others!!  If you know someone who would be a good candidate for an interview, let me know!
----- Also coming soon, a Q&A with the Assistant Director of University Dining Services at UNL!
Don't forget to share the School Lunches Suck! Blog on Facebook, and 'Follow' the blog on the right-hand side of the page!!

Until next time, stay full!!

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Poll: How much control?

     Every two weeks, The School Lunches Suck! Blog will have a poll for the readers to participate in.  The poll for this week is about Government control over school lunch.
----Have a suggestion for a poll I should put on The School Lunches Suck! Blog? Leave a comment below!-----

How much control should the Government have over school lunch?

Friday, August 31, 2012

Peanut Butter, Play Better.

This week, I received a very interesting tip from a student in a small town Kansas high school who reads the School Lunches Suck! Blog.  He told me that there were a couple of schools in the towns down the road who were serving peanut butter sandwiches after lunch to the football players, so that they wouldn’t be as hungry during practice.  I asked him to put me in contact with a football player from one of the schools, and before long, I had a story.
    Devin is a sophomore at a small town high school in northeast Kansas, where the only important things this time of year are harvest and football.  I was intrigued by what I was hearing from others about the sandwiches these players were eating; where they were getting them, and who was paying for them. Devin did most of the talking, and had a quick answer for every question I asked him.

Me: Devin, I am writing a blog about school lunches in America, and I heard that you have some information that would make a very interesting blog post.  Your football team gets peanut butter sandwiches before practice?  Whose idea was it?

Devin: Yeah, we do get them.  It was our football coach’s idea, who is also our athletic director.  

Me: Who pays for these sandwiches? Who makes them?

Devin: Every year, the parents donate Gatorade to drink during practice and games, but this year our coach asked them to donate bread and peanut butter so we wouldn’t get hungry during practice.  You just make the sandwich yourself, in the locker room.

Me:  When did you start eating them before practice?  Are they for the players only?

Devin: Last Monday [August 20th] was when we started eating them.  Yeah, they’re only for the players.

Me: How long are they going to continue donating the bread and peanut butter? Has anyone in your school’s food service program said anything about you eating them?

Devin: I guess we’ll eat them until we don’t have anything left to make them with.  Nobody has said anything,  I’m not sure why it would matter to them.  We are allowed to bring snacks to school and eat them so it shouldn't be any different.    

Me: Alright, I have just one last question before I’m done.  Can you tell if it makes any difference on your performance in practice?

Devin: Yeah, I’m just not as hungry, and helps how I feel overall.

    I thanked Devin for his time and input.  I told him that it would probably be a couple of days before I was able to work out a post, and that I would make sure he got to see it finished.
    For most of the interview, which was conducted over the phone, Devin seemed really puzzled as to why I was so interested in ‘just peanut butter sandwiches’.  What really intrigued me, though, was the fact that it was the football coach/athletic director’s idea.  He went as far as asking the parents to donate bread and peanut butter so the players could have a snack before practice; something that had never been done before.
    One other thing also made me very curious about these sandwiches, and that is that there cannot be any competition to the school lunch program unless it meets certain USDA criteria.  From a CDC weekly report titled, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, I uncovered many of the regulations that govern school food sales. One of which was,  “Competitive foods are not subject to any federal nutrition standards unless they are sold inside the food service area during mealtimes.”  I will explain this in easier terms, as I had it explained to me.  It simply states that the only food that can be served during meal times (breakfast and lunch) in a public school must be regulated by standards set forth by the USDA.  This pretty much limits what can be sold during lunch and breakfast hours in a public school, often leaving the school lunch program the only choice.  Since the sandwiches are donated to the football team, and not sold to them, this does not fall under, “sold inside the food service area during mealtimes.,” meaning, to me, that they are doing no wrong.
    This seems like quite an extreme measure to take, just for a snack before football practice.  But after my Interview with an athlete, I soon realized that it was a great solution to what has become somewhat of a problem with the portion size of lunch at school.

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The link below is for the CDC’s weekly report, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5734a2.htm

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Interview with an athlete..

     Today, I had the chance to talk with a fellow classmate of mine, Tanner.  Tanner is a wide receiver for the Beatrice Orangemen football team, and also participates in track in the spring.  When asked about the new school lunches, Tanner had an opinion similar to many of the other players on the team.

The lunches sucked.
   
     I asked Tanner a couple of questions about what he eats during the day, and how practice goes after school.  "Yesterday for lunch I had a pork rib sandwich, small salad, juice box, and half a cup of fruit. About 7th period everyday I have a snack or something so I don't get hungry," Tanner told me matter-of-factly. Now, Tanner isn't the biggest guy on the team, standing at 5 foot 18 inches and 140 lbs., so for him to be hungry after lunch and a snack is quite ridiculous.  Tanner told me that practice starts at 3:45, and goes until about 6:30 in the evening.  "When I get home, I'm extremely hungry.  If dinner isn't ready when I get home, I get upset. "
     I also got the chance to ask Tanner if he plans on bringing his own lunch, like many of the football players do.  "Yeah," he said, "getting enough food at school can cost quite a bit, my brother paid like six bucks for his lunch today.  Since I bring a snack, I might as well bring my own lunch, too."  I myself have noticed many students bringing their lunch, and when I ask them about it, they all have similar replies.  What they serve us isn't enough.  So, I just pack a lunch, and bring more food. 
     Again, I visited the USDA website, www.choosemyplate.gov, and decided to put Tanner's height, weight, and level of activity into the Daily Food Plan tool.  I received the same results as yesterday, even with a different height, weight, and level of activity.  A 140 lb, 5' 8" male with more than 60 minutes of activity a day needs 3200 calories daily.  I understand that many calories a person consumes in a day also come from their breakfast and dinner, but there are simply not enough calories in a lunch for a football player to keep energized when they practice.  With only 850 maximum calories coming from his lunch, he needs those snacks to give him energy to preform in practice.
     To me, the bottom line for many student-athletes is that they don't get enough calories from their lunch to give them energy to preform.  

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Monday, August 27, 2012

Monday, August 27th.

     What's for lunch on Monday, August 27th? Spaghetti with meat sauce and a bread stick.
Here is a breakdown of what I ate today.

  • Spaghetti with meat sauce
  • 1 bread stick
  • 1/2 pint white milk
  • 3 strawberries
  • 2 orange wedges
  • 3/4 cup mixed veggies
  • 5 slices pickled beets
     Total Vegetables: ~ 2 cups
     Total Fruits: ~1 cup
     
     Today's lunch was a common meal served in cafeterias across the country. Everyone is used to the familiar glob of noodles covered in a somewhat watery spaghetti sauce.  The noodles and the bread stick were both whole wheat, which fulfills the USDA requirement that half of all grains must be whole.  As with my meal last week, about an hour later I was hungry again.  I really started to feel bad for the football players sitting across the cafeteria from me, as they have practice after school.  I wanted to know just exactly what a person like a football player needs, so I did a little research.  
     I know that the USDA has a handy little website called choosemyplate.gov, formerly known as mypyramid.gov.  There, there is a tool that anyone can use, called Daily Food Plan.  The Daily Food Plan breaks down how much of a certain food group a person should eat in any given day. Here, you can select your age, height, weight, gender, and level of physical activity.  
     I decided to use a 17 year old male, weighing 210 lbs. and standing 6 feet tall., with more than 60 minutes of activity a day.  To me, this represents the average football player. The results from the Daily Food Plan were not surprising to me in the least.  
  • 3,200 calories a day
  • 10 ounces of grain a day, at least 5 ounces whole grain
  • 4 cups of vegetables a day
  • 2.5 cups of fruit
  • 3 cups of dairy
  • 7 ounces of protein
With our new school lunches, we knock out a portion of each suggested daily consumption.  
  • 850 calories
  • 2 ounces of grain
  • 1 cup of vegetables
  • 1 cup of fruit
  • 1 cup of dairy
  • 2 ounces protein
     With the limit of calories for a 9-12th grade lunch set at 850, many of those 17-year-old football players or other athletes are simply not getting enough energy from his or her lunch to preform their best at practice.  With only 26.5 percent of daily caloric intake coming from lunch, where is the energy athletes need for practice coming from?  I will interview a couple student-athletes in my school in the next coming weeks to find out.  

Here is the link to the Daily Food Plan from the USDA.
Here is the link from the USDA comparing current school lunch regulations and the previous regulations.

Until next time, stay full!

     

Sunday, August 26, 2012

It's not their fault!

     Before I really get into writing about the lunch schools now serve, I want to make one thing absolutely clear to everyone who reads the blog.

The lunches schools now offer are not the fault of those who serve and prepare the meals.  

     Cafeteria workers are very hard working people; many who truly love their job.  I have the utmost respect for the people who make and serve my meal at school, as my own grandma is a 'lunch lady'.  It was not their decision to change the food they provide, it was the government's.  The people who prepare the food I eat at school day in and day out are only doing what they are told to do.  They did not decide that as a Senior in high school I can have only 10-12 ounces of meat a week.  They did not decide that I am allowed to eat only 10-12 ounces of grain products a week during lunch.  It was the government's.  It simply is not their fault.  

     The several women who work in my school's cafeteria are some of the most caring, friendly people I know.  Everyday, I say 'hi' to them as I fill up my tray, always receiving a reply back, along with a 'how is your day going?'  Many know me by name, and one in particular even remembers my birthday.  With this blog, I only seek to show people exactly what is served for lunch in America's schools, not to put-down and complain to the food service workers in my school, all of whom I greatly appreciate.  

     Make sure to watch this week for posts on what I ate for lunch, and sometime soon a spotlight from another student at Beatrice High School - their thought on lunch!

Friday, August 24, 2012

Friday, August 24th.

     What's for lunch on Friday, August 24th?  Mini corn dogs, dinner roll, and french fries. (I opted for a different vegetable, though.)
Here is a breakdown of what I ate today.  I provided calorie counts for the labeled products.  The other food-I have no idea.

  • 1/2 pint 1% low-fat milk........100 calories
  • 1 can tomato juice..............30 calories
  • 3 strawberries
  • 6 mini corn dogs
  • 1 (very) small roll
  • 1 cup green vegetables
  • butter/ketchup/ranch...........120 calories
     Total Vegetables: ~ 2 cups
     Total Fruit: ~ 1/2 cup

     Many people would say, well, this is a good sized lunch.  When I sat down to eat it, I too thought the same.  However, about an hour later in my math class, my stomach was growling, even though I had just eaten.  I found it difficult to focus on class, and wondered how other students were faring.  
     Unlike some of my classmates, I do not have football or sports practice right away after school.  I thought to myself, How on earth are they going to make it through practice, on such a light meal?  I am lucky enough to be able to go home after school and have a snack, while these athletes can't, and often have practice until 5 o'clock!  Surely, they can't preform their best when they are hungry.  Where will the energy they exert in practice come from? The answer is not the lunch they ate earlier in the day.  The meal is too small for anyone on the football team, or a cross country runner who routinely runs 5 miles a day in practice!  Those athletes need the energy from their lunch to perform well, and as of right now, they are not getting it.
     Simply put, this meal is not enough to keep a person full. In order to be focused in school and at practice, students need more than this snack to give them energy they need.

Until next time, stay full!!