The debate over school lunches came as the surgeon general warned in 2001 that obesity is an epidemic affecting 13 percent of children and 60 percent of adults. The announcement left many people wondering who is responsible, which foods are causing obesity and what can be done to trim waistlines...

Kristin replies:
Upon whom do we rest the blame? Most would agree that something is wrong with our kids. They are bigger and slower. More alarmingly, they are also getting sicker; showing signs of arterial plaque at an ever younger age. Children are not eating the recommended amounts of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. When they do eat, it is usually high-fat, high-sugar empty calories in the guise of a 16-oz. Mountain Dew or a bag of Doritos. Stop me; I am just repeating common knowledge. I still haven't placed the blame on anyone. Where do I start? Are school lunches really making kids fat?

Lunch is an important meal. Many times, a kid skips breakfast and doesn't eat dinner until late in the evening. Therefore, lunch quality/content becomes an issue of vital importance. The government would like to shift the blame from themselves onto parents. Yet, who is providing this crucial midday meal? It is a pretty pathetic defense, Ms. Veneman, coming from an otherwise intelligent woman.

I generally experienced one of two emotions when I used to watch my classmates exit the lines bearing their school-supplied lunches. One was disgust, the other outrage at the sight of such indecent food being fed to children. Nachos drowned in a thick cheese sauce topped off by a mound of low-grade ground beef. Fried chicken patties nestled between pieces of white bread. Greasy cheese pizza accompanied by the customary fried potatoes. The beverage choices were milk and a concoction of high fructose corn syrup, red dye, and ascorbic acid designed to resemble fruit juice. Sure there were salads and yogurts available, but the salad's four limp pieces of iceberg lettuce topped off with a cup of meat and cheese weren't that different from the rest of the menu selections. When I asked friends from other schools about the content of their school's lunches, pizza, fried foods, and burgers topped the list.

Aren't these foods bad for us? Since when did cheesy sauce and tater tots become brain food; never mind heart food? Who wouldn't be overweight when one of their daily meals was swimming in grease?

Ms. Veneman fails to mention the politics behind your school cafeteria's menu. For years the sales of full-fat milk, butter, cream, and cheese have been steadily declining. Farmer's are left with surpluses of these deadly items. Uncle Sam saves the day by buying this excess dairy and distributing it to school cafeterias around the country. It's simply good economics; economics that disregard the human cost. The federal government even has the audacity to promote the consumption of these cholesterol-laden surpluses with the now ubiquitous "Got Milk?" ads spearheaded by the USDA administered National Fluid Milk Processor Promotion Board.

Granted, we as students have the right to refuse to consume school lunches, but what about the millions of kids that rely on free or reduced lunch for their only full meal of the day? They don't have a choice and I find it shameful how they are being shortchanged. I look forward to the day when a child can walk into a school lunch line; exiting with a tray piled high with calcium fortified orange juice, a tossed vegetable salad, a piece of ripe fruit, and a plate of black beans over (dare I even say it?) brown rice. I fully understand that the federal government cannot play "nutritional nanny" after a kid boards the yellow bus at 3pm. Yet, wouldn't it make sense for them to feed our nation's children the best while they are under their care? Even a conservative nutritionist would have to agree that pepperoni pizza is not an optimal food to consume for good health.

It is time for the US Government to wake from their nutritional dreamtime and finally shoulder part of the blame for the rising rate of obesity amongst our kids. To fully understand this development, I will ask kids their perspective on school lunches, the obesity epidemic, and what they think would be good ideas for healthy lunches. No one ever seems to ask them what they think about all of this school lunch controversy even though they are the ones being directly affected. Their thoughts will be used to create the next article in this three-part series. In the meantime you can post your thoughts about this article on vegetarian teen's message board. I'll be sure to read them and incorporate them into my next article.

--Kristin is a frequent contributor to vegetarianteen.com and the winner of our first essay contest with the slogan "My lunch never had a central nervous system." Read what Kristin ate today, and be sure not to miss her article entitled Dealing With Being Different.