A Right to Choose

So its no big secret, kids are unhappy about their school lunches, and rightfully so. When I was in elementary and middle school my favorite school lunches were turkey gravy with mashes potatoes and oriental salad with popcorn chicken. We were always forced to take a fruit or a vegetable, which I was okay with, and about once every week or two weeks we would get the option of a cookie or small slice of cake. Recently, since Michele Obama's health promotions, school lunches have been lacking the appeal that they once had to students. There are now whole grain bread and noodles and quite honestly, it is not as appetizing.
According to a recent article, my school is not the only one opposing these changes. Lunch revenue in schools across the nation has gone down. Personally, I would much rather bring my own lunch than eat a school lunch any day. It is not just the fact that they are making us eat healthier, I love fruit and I am all for eating it. However, at least at my school, their fruit never looks fresh or appealing to me, which is why when I throw it away I can see all of the students that had done the same before me. If the school had fresher and cleaner fruit, students might be less opposed to eating it.
Another thing that I strongly believe about school lunch is that it should be our right, as we are almost adults, to make our own decisions about our health. It is great that schools and communities are promoting healthy foods and a healthy lifestyle, however I don't think that the foods we put into our body should be their decision. I also don't think that all sweets are bad. For lunch, I think that it is okay to have a sandwich on white bread instead of whole grain, fruits and vegetables, and then a cookie or cosmic brownie for desert. When I was younger, they did not have desert available every day, but they had it every once in a while. Now, we never get a desert option. I believe that all foods should be available to students for purchase, the school district should not be able to dictate what I eat, my eating choices will only affect me after all.
I don't believe that promoting healthy lunches is a bad thing, I actually think it is great. However, I don't think that it is okay to take away every other alternative option. Also, I believe that whole grain and vegetables are the only ways to eat healthy at lunch.