Obama School Lunch Program: 'We Are Hungry' Parody Goes Viral, Students Protest Policy (VIDEO)
A new video has gone viral, and it is condemning the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 that has been largely pushed by First Lady Michelle Obama.
The new lunch program went into effect in August, and while it has raised the value of a school lunch from .20 to .25 cents, a number of children appear to be unhappy with their new meals.
The new plan was intended to "[increase] the availability of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains in the school menu," according to the program regulations. Caloric limits were also set to "ensure age-appropriate meals for grades K-5 (650 cal limit), 6-8 (700 cal limit), and 9-12 (850 cal limit)."
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The program is federally assisted, schools can choose to participate, and those that do receive cash subsidies and USDA foods provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The program was meant to offer more children the opportunity to receive a school lunch in addition to improving the nutritional value of meals for all students.
But parents and students have complained that their children are still hungry. Student athletes, in particular, state that they burn too many calories to be limited to so few.
"A lot of us are starting to get hungry even before the practice begins," Mukwonago High senior Nick Blohm told The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "Our metabolisms are all sped up."
A video starring a number of student athletes supports the same idea. It shows students passing out because they have not been offered enough food at lunch and goes as far as to suggest that some students are forced to stash junk food in their lockers in order to sustain energy. Even small children are employed in the protest, seen at the end crawling to the school door because they cannot stand on their own two feet.
"Now they're kind of forcing all the students to get the vegetables and fruit with their lunch, and they took out chicken nuggets this year, which I'm not too happy about," Chris Cimino, a senior at Mohonasen High School in upstate New York, told the Associated Press.
The schools however, are still responsible for developing the menu, and must only comply with the regulations of the lunch program in order to receive funding. Some schools have continued to offer things like pizza, but on a wheat crust, and fish nuggets, but baked instead of fried according to the Huffington Post.
But expecting a nationwide program to suit all schools is not feasible to some.
"In the same way that one-size-fits-all does not work for what we teach in our classrooms, this legislation recognizes that no single set of cafeteria standards should apply to every single school across the nation – let alone every single student," Kansas Congressman Tim Huelskamp stated in a motion to change the program.
