Analytical Paper on a Facet of Food Production or Consumption (Essay Sample)

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Analytical Paper on a Facet of Food Production or Consumption
The process of food production and consumption in public schools is multifaceted. The different faces are integrated to enhance the success of the process. The various faces in the process such as environment, government structures, social and economic factors work together to design food production and consumption programs in the United States schools. Statistics shows that several elementary and secondary schools are registered in different districts in the U.S, and they have different lunch programs influenced by various facets of the society. The federal government has been at the forefront to provide the over 55 million American students with Federal Nutrition Assistance Programs. The involvement of the government in the food production in elementary schools is a sign of care and protection of the rights of children by the state. The manuscript herein is an analysis of a facet of food production in the elementary schools in the United States (Briefel, Ronette et al. 100).
The food consumed by students during lunch hours while at school are obtained from outside the school compound either brought from home or purchased from vendors in the school surrounding. The imbalanced diet consumed by children while at school was observed to affect the eating behavior and physical development of the child. Therefore, in the year 2006, Congress developed the NSLP (National School Lunch Program) for purposes of the health and well-being of the students in the region. The organization provided free lunch to the pupils in the schools that cost the government $8 billion. The provided meals were recommended by the nutritionists as they were structured with all the necessary dietary demands opposed to the junk sold outside the school. Additionally, the objective of the federal government to provide food at subsidized cost and reliable source for the students was met (Cullen et al. 485).
Food production facet for food structures developed by the NSLP has a one-third of the RDA "proteins, Vitamin C, Vitamin A, iron, calcium" and measured calories. However, the guidelines are never met by the schools as the local school food authorities are faced with several challenges such as limited funds, re-defined nutrition guidelines, lack of understanding and supply in the economy. The local authorities tend to re-structure the nutrition guideline to suit the economic position of the District Thus, children do not get the design food production program. It is then clear that the policy developed by the Federal Government faces adverse effects as the objective is partially accomplished. The system enabled the children to obtain their meals at a fair cost, within their reach. However, the setbacks above have deterred the school from providing nutritious food at the programmed quantities. Therefore, NSLP needs to restructure their approach to ensuring their goal is met (Anupama, Azuma, & Feenstra 229).
NSLP ensured food supply in the schools were met by assigning the supply duty to three multinational companies in America namely Aramark, Compass group and Sodexo. The companies’ position in the uniform supply of commodities guaranteed them the opportunity to attain 75% of all the school contracts. The companies are well known for the delivery of agricultural products enhanced by the advancing technology that enabled the production of hybrid grains. The advancement in agriculture has allowed the schools to have sufficient foods to prepare for the children while in school. The natural resources purchased from the company are essential in maintaining the children’s well-being as opposed to the preserved products used in food production by the vendors (Kubik et al. 1169).
The quality of food produced for children in learning under the NSLP is designed in a manner that they meet specific food-based and nutrients based standards to satisfy the targets of a healthy diet as illustrated in the graph below.
To meet the set dietary standards, the team involved the community and the children as well to ensure the policies were implemented and embraced by the respective schools. For example, in Aptos Middle School in San Francisco, California, had the parents launch a criteria to alter and improve on the products sold at the snack bar menu. The list was developed based on the contribution of the students’ choices. In the long run, the food program for Aptos in 2002-2003 met a large amount of the required standards in the country. Despite the proper blueprint and well-designed structure for the food program in schools, the objective of the NSLP was not met (Briefel, Ronette et al. 99)
The incorporation of the community and the students in the program need to be considered as a technique likely to enhance goal achievement of NSLP. The involvement of the stakeholders will enable the program to be developed from the user experience point of view. The experience is essential in integrating the stakeholder perception, culture, and eating habits, making it owned by the stakeholders. Additionally, NSLP also needs to restructure their program to suit the available resources in a given school so as to avoid failure of accomplishing their goals. The government also needs to consider developing food nutrition programs at the District level to prevent use of nationally defined policies and food structures that do not fit the budget and the environmental conditions of the schools (Cullen et al 488).
Despite the challenges facing the Lunch program in the elementary schools, it remains the best technique to provide quality food to the students. The NSLP therefore, need to revise the program as it is a partnership between local schools, communities, education agencies and the Federal government. The com...