No Lunch Left Behind
nytimes.com
nytimes.com
“that are produced without pesticides or chemical fertilizers. When possible, these foods should be locally grown.”
Uhm... I eat foods with “pesticides” every day. Pesticides increases the crop yields and increases quality. Correct use of pesticides pose no harm to humans. Chemical fertilizers also increase crop yields (dramatically) and makes food cheaper. Oh... and guess what – anything is “chemicals”.
Some areas are more suited than other areas for crop production (e.g. climate, land and labour costs). Why should everything be locally grown?
“cash for every meal they serve — $2.57 for a free lunch”
170 grams of Tuna costs me as a consumer $1 dollar. I am pretty sure they can get it for cheaper. It is fairly healthy – a healthy meal can cost less than $3 (but I guess they want to grow the Tuna locally).
She suggests that the budget should be tripled – meaning at each lunch will cost about $8. That is just preposterous.
“not to the continued spread of youth obesity, Type 2 diabetes”
I live in a third world country – and there is no problem of diabetes or obesity under the youth. Most people eat a lot less and food that costs a lot less than that of USA school kids.
“Let’s prove that there is such a thing as a good, free lunch. “
There is no such thing as a free lunch. There is however a lunch for which another person pays.
Same with genetically modified crops which, by the way we have been doing for centuries - we just call it hybridization.
Politely disagree. The article also states that the government is subsidizing school lunches to the tune of something like $2.57 for free lunches, $2.17 for reduced-price lunches, and $0.24 for paid lunches. It then states that most of this subsidization isn't even going into the school lunch program, instead it's going to "heat the cafeteria" or for "custodial services."
Utilities aren't free; nor are janitorial services. At first glance, it seems to be an accounting problem: incorrect cost assignments wrapped up with a budgeting problem.
One of the things we learn in managerial accounting is that variances (diffs. between "budget" and "actual") is that they are opportunities for improvements. Accounting for "free lunches" isn't free!