Students could buy three bag of chips for the price of a single cup of fruit, yet no one seems to bat an eye.

The school pushes for students to eat healthier and requires them to have a milk, and a fruit or vegetable for their lunch to count as a meal. But there are so many unhealthy choices that cost less than what a “healthy” lunch costs. The school even has deals that are encouraging students to be unhealthy: buy one coffee at full price and get a free cookie.

Everyone complains about youth being overweight, but they never do anything but encourage it by having such unhealthy choices so readily available. All of the school’s options for ice cream are all under $2.00, while a cup of grapes, watermelon, or cantaloupe cost $3.00. A school meal only cost $2.75 and includes more food than a cup of fruit. Former First Lady, Michelle Obama, spent time over the eight years her husband was in office implementing healthy lunch guidelines that schools were required to follow in order to help better the lives of children. According to Newsweek.com, In the beginning of May all of these regulations were thrown out the window by a member of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet, Sonny Perdue. Perdue signed a proclamation that would give schools back the power to make their own decisions about lunches. 

It is not only in our school that eating healthy costs more than unhealthy options. Fresh fruits and vegetables at a grocery store cost more than chips and cookies in most places. It seems like our society wants its youth and everyone else to become overweight and complain when they do, yet they don’t want to do anything about it.

Some might say that fruits and vegetables only cost more when they are out of season, and this may be true, but processed foods end up costing more to make, but since they sell so much of it the price is able to go down. Fresh fruits and vegetables cost less produce, but they are forced to up the prices to even make a profit.

If our school added more healthy options at a lower price and raised the prices of the junk food a little, not only would they make more money, they would be able to say they are taking a step in helping end the childhood obesity epidemic.