Amy Kalafa: Lunch Wars: How to Start a School Food Revolution and Win the Battle for Our Children’s Health

Abstract

Lunch Wars: How to start a school food revolution and win the battle for our children’s health by Amy Kalafa, focuses on the reform of wellness programs in schools to combat illnesses associated with childhood obesity. This book lays the foundation through various studies regarding how the food industry specifically targets children and the chilling consequences of this exposure. Further, the author illustrates the direct links between cost-cutting incentives in schools and poor nutrition. By focusing on the need to remove unhealthful and even dangerous foods in children’s cafeterias, this book acknowledges one source of reform that can influence a child’s eating habits beyond the cafeteria. That focus means that the book’s main audience is more than researchers and schools; the book seeks to raise parents and caregivers’ awareness. As such, it serves as a useful and comprehensive tool to improving the lives of children and their communities. Chapter one, titled ‘‘Let’s Do Lunch,’’ addresses six substances known as ‘‘the scary six’’: residue, flavorings, hydrogenated oils, additives, sugar and artificial sweeteners, and genetically engineered food. The author identified studies where almost all of these substances were found in school food. Remarkably, the USDA sets the federal standard for school systems which has ‘‘lower standards than many fast-food chains’’ (Kalafa 2011, p. 19). Yet, a 2007 School Nutrition Dietary Assessment concluded that the vast majority of schools in America exceed USDA guidelines for the quantities of saturated fat, total fat and sodium in school lunches. In addition, while hydrogenated oils are helpful for the food industry to help prolong a product’s shelf life, these oils contain the most dangerous kind of fat. These types of oils are common among shelved products in schools. A 2010 Princeton study found that consumption of this additive causes significant weight gain as well as abnormal increases in body fat. Further, the most common type of food additive in school food is high fructose corn syrup, being a cheaper sugar substitute. A study done in Britain in 2007 found that additives, such as artificial food color, exacerbate hyperactive behaviors in all children. Consequently, the only way to ensure schools are not using high quantities of ‘‘the scary six’’ in its food is to purchase certified organic foods, which prove costly. Chapter two, ‘‘Get Connected,’’ lays the foundation for wellness reform beginning in the 1920s. During this time, dieticians found malnutrition in as many as 25 percent of American children, but they struggled with the gap between knowledge and practice. Individuals throughout the US began to form groups to initiate policy change on both state and federal levels. Over time, these organizations, such as Green Village Initiative and Flow Food USA, have impacted communities on a local level creating food education projects. As Kalafa points out, these types of community based initiatives are essential in encouraging and supporting wellness programs. Chapter three, ‘‘The Wonky Chapter,’’ begins with one of the more successful welfare programs in the US, the National School Lunch Program. This program, which was signed into law in 1946, created an affordable lunch program that provided free or reduced lunches for nearly 5.5 billion lunches a year. During and after WWII, small farms were used to subsidize school lunches. The surplus commodities added much-needed calories, vitamins, and protein to an insufficient diet. In the 1970s and 1980s, more school programs were added. Doing so led to important changes that reduced the programs’ effects. In order to T. Hunter (&) Indiana University Maurer School of Law, Bloomington, IN, USA e-mail: taylhunt@indiana.edu; taylhunt@umail.iu.edu