by Raine Saunders

Created on: August 13, 2009

Currently, legislation is being introduced into the Senate and House to require regulation of all foods sold in the public school environment in the United States. These bills would allow for the setting of standards for cafeteria food and vending machine purchases made by students. But are these measures going far enough? We think not! Here's why:

We should be outraged and confused as to why the types of foods that are sold in the lunchroom environments are still being offered - and school lunch officials are boasting of "improvements" made on distributed lunchroom literature calendars - that their foods are now all baked instead of fried, and that they do not allow anything greater than 30 percent of daily calories to include fat. Never mind that the foods available in the lunch-line contain toxic chemicals and additives which cause myriad health issues and disable children from having the best chance, both physically and mentally, of performing and learning to the best of their potential, or the fact that most foods the children are eating are nutritionally devoid of nutrients, but have had synthetic ones added back in. And most importantly, remember that the types of fat, cholesterol, proteins, and calories provided in school lunches do not come from nature - they were never intended for people to consume for food - most of them are engineered by scientists in laboratories to ensure preservation of food, consistency in appearance, and of course, taste.

What's in school lunches?

Just as one example, read the ingredients on one offering - popcorn chicken - a popular offering at schools around the country:

Chicken Breast with Rib Meat CONTAINING: Up to 20% of a Solution of Water, Salt and Sodium

Phosphates.

BREADED WITH: Bleached Wheat Flour, Yellow Corn flour, Salt, Spices, Leavening

(Sodium Bicarbonate, Sodium Aluminum Phosphate, Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Monocalcium Phosphate),

Nonfat Dry Milk, Dried Whey, Soy Flour, Dried Whole Eggs, Sodium Alginate, Partially Hydrogenated

Soybean Oil, Dextrose, Garlic Powder, Mono and Diglycerides and Dried Yeast.

BATTERED WITH: Water, Wheat Flour, Yellow Corn Flour, Dried Whey, Dextrose, Spices, Salt, Leavening (Sodium

Bicarbonate, Sodium Aluminum Phosphate), Sodium Alginate, Soy Flour, Oleoresin Paprika, Nonfat Dry

Milk, Dried Whole Eggs. Breading set in vegetable oil.

ALLERGENS: EGG, MILK, SOY, WHEAT.

Oh, where to start! The issues with this one item alone are seemingly unending. What you have

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