I am writing this letter to inform you on the nutritional values of our school lunches. Though our cafeteria provides healthy options like salad, water, and fruit, many of our students continue to order the unhealthy foods like pizza, cookies, and chips. I believe that it is the school’s responsibility to provide students with the healthiest meals which Viera has not failed to do but to my dismay many students aren’t making the right choices. Also, students need variety in the foods that they are consuming on a daily basis. Eating pizza and a cookie every day for 270 days will lead to various health issues among many down the road.

The best part of my day is when the bell rings at 12:18 for lunch, but sometimes I get discouraged by the food that I see my peer’s eating. Everything consists of carbs, sugar, and foods high in sodium and preservatives like pizza, chips, bread sticks, fruit snacks, cookies… No wonder Americans are getting more and more obese. We need to eat foods that will nourish the body and give it the energy that it needs to carry out its daily functions. Although we have made progress with school lunches from the past, I believe that we still have a long way to go. Going from a cookie made of white flour to a cookie made of whole grains isn’t considered healthier if it is still packed with sugars and preservatives.

My solution to this problem is to do like what other countries do: Prepare different meals every day and have everybody eat the same food. These meals should contain fresh vegetables (not canned), a small portion of carbs, fresh fruits (not canned), and water. No sweet juices, slushies’, chips, or cookies should be allowed. By doing this, we are eliminating the habit of eating the same foods every day, cutting costs and keeping our students healthy. We need to teach our students that pizza, nachos, cookies, and chips are “treats” and not foods to be consumed on a daily basis. Many students might not like these changes but it’s not about what is liked, it’s about what’s good for them. We need to place value on what we put in our bodies for without a properly functioning body, we cannot go on about our lives to the fullest of our potential.