Putting Nutrition at the Head of the School Lunch Line LESLEY ALDERMAN November 5, 2010 New York Times

Tempting Lunch THE lunch menu at my son’s elementary school — Public School 29 in Brooklyn — looked very tempting recently: vegetarian chili, sofrito brown rice, confetti corn salad, pico de gallo, salad bar, milk. Making the menu even more appealing was the price: $1.50. When a school lunch is nutritious and tasty, it’s one of the best health bargains around. Lunches provided through the National School Lunch Program, which is subsidized by the federal government, cost parents about $1.25 to $2, typically less than it would cost to make the meal at home. For lower-income families, the bill is less, or even free.

P.S. 29 students are lucky! P.S. 29 students are lucky; their school participates in Wellness in the Schools, a nonprofit program that places culinary school graduates in New York City public schools to create appealing meals from wholesome ingredients. Across the country, many other school districts are beginning to make healthy food a priority by starting school gardens, using local produce and involving parents in the meal planning. Wellness in the Schools Still, at many schools, lunches are neither tasty nor nutritious. While more than 70 percent of schools serve lunches that meet the guidelines for nutrients like vitamins, minerals and protein, many serve meals that are high in fat, salt and sugar, according to a School Nutrition Dietary Assessment study.study

Healthy Food A study by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2006 found that 23.5 percent of high schools offered fast food from places like Pizza Hut and Taco Bell.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention School lunches must meet a minimum calorie limit set by the government, but it’s up to individual schools to decide how the calories are apportioned. If a meal has not reached the limit, the cook can toss on extra slices of bread to bring up the count. “School lunches are based on an outdated idea — that hungry kids only need calories,” said Margo G. Wootan, director of nutrition policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a health advocacy group. “But what hungry kids need is healthy food.”

The Economics - Externalities We have standard demand and supply. p q DS q0q0 p0p0 Think of fattening food as imposing a negative externality. Optimal consumption is q*. S + MSC q*q* We would want to tax this food at $t per unit (or at t' percent) so as to make the t