With the new school year came drastic changes in the food we eat at school. Some people see the low fat milk; whole grain bread, and no salt to be a good thing. Many students however see this as making school lunches even more sickening than they were in years past.
Students have also said the new vending machine foods have taken away their tasty alternative lunches and snacks. Some parents even feel that, with the new lunches, their kids are actually not eating healthy and are going hungry. Other parents however feel that the new food and vending machine policies are going to help their children. Many people blame the school system for the new changes. The USDA website stated that the new healthy school lunch policies stem from the Let’s Move! movement, whose founder is Michelle Obama.
I believe the new Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act is the real cause of the new school lunch menus. The act focuses on making sure that students eat right and do not go hungry. The act does not permit 2% milk, salt, butter, calories over the recommended age amount, and excessive amounts sugar. The act however permits a new “6 cent rule” saying that schools will get an additional six cents back for every meal they buy, but the price of a meal has gone up ten cents from last year. The one and only goal of the new act is make sure that America’s obesity rate goes down, but to also make sure that kids do not go hungry. The Let’s Move! website released a statement from Michelle Obama saying ” So if a parent is working hard at home to serve more nutritious meals, we’ve got to make sure that their work isn’t going to be undone when the bell rings at school.”

The HHFKA, as the act is called, has sparked a lot of controversy over whether or not the act accomplishes its purpose. Many lawmakers and other officials say the act is a great idea and will benefit the American youth greatly. They say that having healthier, tastier lunches will help keep students happy and healthy.
Most students and parents believe however that the HHFKA is not doing its job at all. One example of the HHFKA not doing its job is that underweight students that need whole milk so they can gain weight, cannot get any, because the HHFKA does not allow for it. Many students just will simply not eat the food because they believe it to be gross, and for many that means neither eating that day nor getting the correct amount of nutrition, making the new act useless.
So before the blame is put upon a person, we need to know where the new school lunches come from. We cannot blame the cafeteria workers for something they are forced to feed us and we cannot blame the administration or school board for following the law. The real and true cause of the new lunches is the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act.