Why Is The Government Stumped?

The government says they want healthier school lunches, but just can't afford to make them as healthy as we'd like. Why then are they putting twice the amount of food on these children's trays then they should be eating? This is not healthy. It seems like a no-brainer to me. They could free up a lot of money by feeding the children appropriate amounts of food!

I work at an elementary school and by my calculations the children were served approximated 600 calories at lunch today on their trays. What a waste considering the new dietary guidelines that the government just provided us with suggest that the average 2-8 year old should take in only 1,400 calories in a day. If you do the math you realize that the maximum amount of calories these little ones should be getting in a lunch should be around 450. But when you figure in snacks and large dinners it becomes evident that the calories in their lunch should be much less than 450. Yet today they were served approx. 600! That is a giant lunch. No wonder America is having budget and obesity issues.

The lunch today was "breakfast for lunch". The main course was a sausage, egg and cheese biscuit. If a child ate the entire thing he/she would take in about 26 grams of protein. Do you know how many grams of protein an elementary aged child should be getting a day? Just 19 grams. 26 grams from just one meal? Talk about putting stress on their kidneys! Sausage, egg, and cheese all have generous amounts of protein (and fat). So here is my question. Why not make it an egg and cheese biscuit instead and not even buy the sausage? When you do that you save a LOT of money and you also prevent the children from going WAY over on their recommended protein intake for the day.

But more importantly, why is the American government coming out with these recommendations, clearly showing that they know better, and then still feeding the students of their schools these meals that are off the charts, and wrong in every aspect. Why don't they follow their own advice? There is a serious disconnect going on here.