Is the National School Lunch Program All Around Beneficial?

Currently, many low-income families in Washington County, Maine are struggling to obtain healthy balanced meals on a daily basis. When the National School Lunch Program was put into effect, parents were relieved of some of the burdens of food insecurity due to the low-cost or no-cost meal options provided to their children.

The NSLP is funded by government assistance funds as well as commodity food products provided to schools to maintain the program.The commodity foods make up nearly 12% of the state's funding for school lunch.(1,2,3) With the increased need coming from the NSLP, the number of commodity foods that were once provided to SNAP participants has decreased.

Unfortunately, with the government regulating the funds and the nutrition standards at the same time, foods may be lacking in nutritious menu options in low-income areas where the reliance on the NSLP is high.(4) State government must decide whether to provide cheaper foods lower in nutritional value or not providing enough food for their students.(4)

The issues become even more pronounced when obesity is added to the equation. Because this program was initially started to address food insecurity in areas like Washington County, the focus was not on making healthy nutritionally balanced meals.

As the obesity epidemic increasingly progressed, state officials have started looking into ways to decrease obesity rates through limiting other food outlets available at schools including "a la carte" food items and unhealthy vending machine options.(4)

Fortunately, programs are being established such as the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act and the Let's Go Program.(5) The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act provided $1.1 million dollars in aid to improve the School Lunch Program in areas of the state of Maine with high levels of food insecurity.(5) The program provides funding for planning and development of healthy menus and nutrition education materials as well as the purchasing of nutritious ingredients.(5)

The manner in which commodity foods are allocated needs to be looked into in order to decrease the prevalence of food insecurity as well as produce beneficial results for the participants within the NSLP.

1. Kessler, Heidi L., MS, SNS, Vine J, MS, Rogers VW, MD. Let's Go! School Nutrition Workgroups: Regional Partnerships for Improving School Meals. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior. 2015;47:278-282.e1.

2. Peterson C. A rotten deal for schools? An assessment of states’ success with the National School Lunch Program’s in-kind food benefit. Food Policy. 2011;36:588-596.

3. Wharton CM, PhD., Long M, A.B., Schwartz MB, PhD. Changing nutrition standards in schools: The emerging impact on school revenue. J Sch Health. 2008;78(5):245-51. https://une.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.une.idm.oclc.org/docview/215669858?accountid=12756.

4. Harris DE, PhD, Blum JW, ScD, Bampton M, PhD, et al. Location of Food Stores Near Schools Does Not Predict the Weight Status of Maine High School Students. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior. 2011;43:274-278.

5. Bill that Improves School Lunch Program for Maine Passes House: Rep. MiKE Michaud (D-ME) News Release. Congressional Documents and Publications. Washington: Federal Information & News Dispatch, Inc; 2010.