Running

Head: FAST FOOD VS. LOCAL FOOD IN SCHOOLS

Fast Food vs. Local Food in Schools

Hannah Poole

Madonna University

Running Head: FAST FOOD VS. LOCAL FOOD IN SCHOOLS

Fast food restaurants have been around The United States since the early 1900s
according to Wilson. They used to be simplistic back then, only serving burgers and
fries, but as soon as additional chains opened, more and more items started popping up on
menus everywhere. Now, there are over 145 items on the McDonalds menu and that
number is increasing every day! The fast food industry does not care for the health of its
customers, which is why society has been affected in a very negative way over the past
decade. Since fast food has made such an impact on America, schools have just recently
started to serve unhealthy foods. Their sales may be good; they should be worried about
childrens health instead of the schools profit. Schools and education experts say
providing healthier entree options come down to how to most easily meet nutrition
guidelines and cost explained Morris. If the schools really did care they would make an
effort to buy local foods that are affordable and healthy. Fast food chains have grown
over the years introducing themselves to society and started reaching schools, although
some people disagree with selling local foods in schools, studies show how beneficial it
can be for the students, the community and the school itself.
America has been the fattest country in the world for years, but just recently took
second place after Mexico. Just because they are now in second place does not mean
society is not taking as much of a toll on the issue. Obesity is the second biggest killer
next to deaths caused by smoking stated Lumis. He also said that in 1991, 1 in every 8
adults was obese; in 1999, 1 in every 5 adults was obese, which shows how America is
becoming more obese all of the time. Society needs to start making better decisions on
what they eat or else America might be back at the top of the fattest country very soon.
With the average person eating 3 hamburgers and four orders of fries a week, there are

Running Head: FAST FOOD VS. LOCAL FOOD IN SCHOOLS

several reasons why fast food is being blamed for our nations obesity problem. Not only
does is fast food making society fatter, it is also causing major diseases in people of all
ages.
The number of deathly diseases caused by eating too much fast food is becoming
out of control. There are so many more people being diagnosed with diseases because of
fast food. Being morbidly obese can compromise your health, shorten your life, and even
cause death. If you are overweight, the probabilities of developing heart disease and
diabetes increase significantly. According to the American Heart Association, high blood
pressure is the primary cause of death among Americans older than 25. About 75 million
people suffer from high blood pressure or hypertension, which is a major risk factor for
heart disease. Blood pressure tends to increase with weight gain and age. For people who
are overweight and have high blood pressure, losing as little as 8 pounds can help reduce
blood pressure to a safe level. Obesity is considered one of the most significant factors in
the development of insulin resistance, and insulin resistance can lead to type 2 diabetes.
Being overweight or obese contributes to the development of diabetes by making cells
more resistant to the effects of insulin. Luckily, you can get rid of this deadly disease if
you can lose 15-20 pounds! Fast food is also creating society to become more depressed
and moody as a whole.
There is a very strong link between obesity and mood and anxiety disorders. The
study, published in the July issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry, found that an
obese person is about 25 percent more likely than a non-obese person to have a mood or
anxiety disorder, such as depression. Feeling corrupt can affect your social life or your
work. For example, you may not feel able to make friends, go to work or take part in

Running Head: FAST FOOD VS. LOCAL FOOD IN SCHOOLS

education, or even go shopping. That will cause you to become even more depressed,
which will lead to more eating.
Society is affected by fast food in a tremendous way, whether its obesity, diseases
or mood disorders. Society needs to change the way they are living right now if they want
the younger generations to grow up to be healthy and strong. Since they began serving
fast food in school cafeterias, children and teens have been buying more and schools have
made more profit. It would be very beneficial for everyone if they replace fast food with
local food but unfortunately, some people disagree with that option because of
globalization and the cost.
Over the course of decades globalization has turned the world into an integrated
economy. The more trading that takes place, the more wealth is created and had helped
lift more people out of mere subsistence than ever before. There are many benefits to
globalization stated Barowitz. To poorer countries globalization brings the chance to sell
their relatively low cost labor onto world markets it also brings the investment that
creates jobs. To people in richer countries, it brings lower cost goods from abroad, which
leaves them with spending power to spare and a higher standard of living. Also, Barowitz
mentioned how it provides wide choices, improves on quality, boosts economy, spreads
knowledge and promotes progressive thinking. If schools all across America start to buy
local, we will lose many of these advantages, which may hinder our economy. Price is
another downfall for buying local.
It is no surprise that buying organic, local food is pricey. In some cases, local food
can cost up to 50 percent more than their non-local counter parts explained Robertson.
Although prices have gone down over the years because it has become more mainstream,

Running Head: FAST FOOD VS. LOCAL FOOD IN SCHOOLS

it is still a huge problem for many consumers. The graph below is from the United States
Department of Agriculture and it shows how organic food sales have increased since
1997.

Again, the main reason why more people are buying organic food is because of all
its health benefits it offers and the price is starting to decrease! Once more people are
aware of how much better local food is for them, they will start buying it and then the
price will lower even more. Unfortunately, minimum wage in America is currently $7.25
an hour, which is not a large amount at all. Robertson also said If I were living off of
$7.25 an hour, I would not even consider buying the local option, especially for people
who have to pay rent and support their family. If people start to buy local foods instead
of paying rent, this will put America in more debt than it already is. The cost of buying
local food is a major problem for many people, that is why it is better to not buy local.

Running Head: FAST FOOD VS. LOCAL FOOD IN SCHOOLS

Although Barowitz and Robertson discussed why buying local food is not a good thing,
there are many more reasons why it is beneficial than harmful.
Buying local food is great for your familys health, the environment and family
farmers. Morris is correct when he said knowing where your food comes from and how it
is grown or raised enables you to choose safe food from farmers who avoid or reduce
their use of chemicals, pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, or genetically modified seed in
their operations. Avoiding all of those horrible elements ensures your familys health will
be better and knowing that you are protecting your family is a great feeling. Not only is
local food great for your health, but it also tastes a lot fresher! Who would not want
fresher food?
Local food does not have to travel far compared to fast food. In Wilsons article,
he claims that it is estimated the average American meal travels about 1500 miles to get
from farm to plate. Buying local reduces carbon dioxide emissions and packing materials.
It also helps to make farming more profitable and selling farmland for development less
attractive. When you buy local food, you vote with your food dollar. This ensures that
family farms in your community will continue to thrive and that healthy, flavorful,
plentiful food will be available for future generations. All of these things are protecting
the environment! In addition to saving the environment, you are also helping family
farmers.
There has never been a more critical time to support your farming neighbors.
With each local food purchase, you ensure that more of your money spent on food goes
to the farmer. Ottens conclusion is that todays farmer receives less than 10 cents of the
retail food dollar. When farmers sell directly to the consumer, the middleman is cut out

Running Head: FAST FOOD VS. LOCAL FOOD IN SCHOOLS

this producing a higher profit for the farmer. The farmer then circulates his profits
throughout the community with local merchants creating a cycle that helps to build a
strong economy. Building a strong economy is very important these days because
America is struggling to keep it up with all the problems that Politians keep failing to
tackle. If people start buying more local food from farmers, there is no question that the
economy would start to rise again. Local food should not just be for families at home; it
should be available to as many people possible. The benefits of serving local food in
schools are astonishing.
Serving local food in schools would be a huge advantage to children and
teenagers. On the topic of young adults, Kerbs said that your body takes in the most
nutrients when you are youthful because you are still growing. Local food is much more
nutritious because it spends less time passing between farm and table, therefor fewer
nutrients fresh produce will lose. Locally grown fruits and vegetables contain more
nutrients because they are picked at their peak freshness, transported shorter distances
and sold directly to the consumer according to Pijai. This is a great thing for kids because
it will assure they will grow up with stronger bones, and healthier hearts. This will also
make their parents very happy, knowing that their child is going to school and getting all
the nutrients they need for a healthy diet. This could also lead to educational school trips
to farms that would be fun for the students and teachers. You would learn a ton about
local food and it might even spark a flame in a childs head that wants to make a
difference to help out.
Local offerings can also lengthen the school meal tray and include everything
from the salad bar and fresh fruit and vegetable servings to the wheat in the pizza crust,

Running Head: FAST FOOD VS. LOCAL FOOD IN SCHOOLS

beans in the chili, turkey in the sandwiches and cheese in the quesadillas. Children and
teenagers would get bored of the same food being served all the time, and buying local
would create so many different options for them. After discussing the topic of all the
different types of local food you can buy, Wilsons conclusion is that local buying can
also include all types of producers, such as farmers, ranchers and fishermen, as well as
many types of food businesses including food processors, manufacturers and distributors
which enable school meals to showcase the full range of food products available in their
respective regions It is obvious that selling local food in schools would help the kids, but
also it would help the school itself.
If schools started buying local food for the cafeteria they would notice a huge
difference in many aspects of their department. If schools started to buy local food it
would most likely cause a relationship between the farmer and the person who is buying
the local food, which would most likely be the head chef. Once they have a stable and
trusting relationship, chances are that the farmer is going to start giving the chef deals
when he buys his food. Since schools need to buy food in bulk, I would not doubt that the
farmer would start throwing in a few extra things just to make sure that the school stays
with his business! This is a very good thing because the school now has to pay less
money for better quality of food claimed Robertson. As soon as parents find out that their
child is going to a school that is trying to make a change for the better, they might start
talking about it to their friends, and then their friends might want their children to that
school. In my opinion, the more kids the merrier! Most schools also feel the same way,
because if they have more kids transferring, chances are you are going to sell more food
at lunch making a bigger profit for the school. The community also receives a profit when

Running Head: FAST FOOD VS. LOCAL FOOD IN SCHOOLS

schools sell local foods.

The more schools that buy local food the better. If the demand for local food is
higher, farmers are going to have to start pumping out more and more creating jobs
within the community. If more people in your community have jobs, the better the
economy will be. If a lot of people start working at farms, the word will get out as to how
many more things you can do there as well. In Lumiss article, he writes that most farms
are not just for growing fruits and vegetables. Some have fun activities for children like
corn mazes, haunted houses and pumpkin patch picking. Once the community starts to
find out about all these fun things to do, they will not be able to resist exploring all these
activities. No only does this create more money for the farm, but it also brings the
community together. Families will socialize more, create new friends, and make amazing
memorizes.
Knowing where your food is from connects you to the people who raise and grow
it. Instead of having a single relationship, to a big supermarket, you develop smaller
connections to more food sources. If you expand where you buy your food, Barowitz
validated that you will know the vendors at the farmers market, the buying manager at the
local cheese shop, the butcher at your favorite meat counter, the workers at the co-op that
sells local eggs, the roaster and barista at the local caf. He also mentioned that for some
people the benefit of this is social and psychological; for all of us, though, it pays off in
the foods we eat. People who know you tend to want to help you, whether it's giving you
a deal on a leg of lamb, letting you know when your favorite tomatoes will be on sale, or
setting aside a wedge of your favorite cheese. All of these fantastic plans will only
happen if more schools step up to the plate and make a change to buying local food. It

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might take some time, and some extra money at the beginning, but I can guarantee you it
will all be worth it in the end because of all the great things that can come from it.
Fast food has clearly grown over the past couple of decades and will not stop
affecting society until something is done about it. Few people believe that buying local,
organic food is bad; while many others think that it should be served in schools all across
America due to the facts that show how beneficial it would be towards the students,
community and school. The United Department of Agriculture stated that schools are
beginning to get more local food thanks to their farm to school program. Over 38,000
schools are buying local foods for their cafeteria, which is over 21,000 students. That
means they are serving over 350 million dollars in healthy local food. The number of
schools that are starting to serve local foods is increasing every day, which is a very good
sign for society. However, there are almost 100,000 public schools in the United States to
date, which means we still have a long way to go.
America should be very proud with how far they have come but there could still be
improvements. There are a variety of solutions that could take place to ensure that more
local food would be served in cafeterias, and that students would actually buy it as well.
One of the first steps is gaining an understanding of how school food works! If you do
not understand the main concepts of what could actually be sold and served in schools
quickly and efficiently then all your other information is useless. Conducting a local food
taste test in the cafeteria could not hurt either. You want to make sure that whatever local
food you are selling in the cafeteria, students will love and want more. That is the only
way you are going to make a profit. If you sell things that students do not like as much,
for example, brussels sprouts, than the school is going to be losing profit making them

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resort back to their old ways and selling unhealthy cheap foods again. Also, highlighting
locally grown food served in your school cafeteria would make children want to try it
more, just because there eyes are drawn to it. These are just a few ways to expand local
food in schools, and how to keep it there once it starts!

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Reference Page
American Heart Association. "Top 10 Obesity-Related Diseases The Truth About
Being Obese Medi-Weightloss." N.p., 2011. Web. 2 Apr. 2014.
Barowitz, Z. "The Top 10 Reasons NOT to Buy Local." The Bollard. N.p., 2009. Web.
2 Apr. 2014.
Kerbs, J. "Strong link between obesity and mood and anxiety disorders." THE MEDICAL
NEWS | from News-Medical.Net - Latest Medical News and Research from
Around the World. N.p., 2006. Web. 2 Apr. 2014.
Lumis, H. "Issue Brief: Analysis of Obesity Rates by State - Trust for America's Health."
Trust for America's Health - Preventing Epidemics. Protecting People.
N.p., 2012. Web. 2 Apr. 2014.
Morris, I. "How Fast Food Affects You Negatively." Healthy Eating | SF Gate.
N.p., 2011. Web. 26 Mar. 2014.
Morris, N. "Processed foods still dominate school lunches - News -Register - Springfield,
IL." The State Journal. N.p., 2011. Web. 26 Mar. 2014.
Otten, L. "Farmers Market Authority." Farmers Market Authority. N.p., 2008. Web.
2 Apr. 2014.
Pijai, E. (2012). Benefits of Locally Grown Produce | SuperKids Nutrition - Grow Super
Kids! Retrieved from http://www.superkidsnutrition.com/nutritionarticles/nutrition_answers/organic_food/benefits-locally-grown-produce/
Robertson, K. "Get Real: The Real Cost of Eating Local and Organic Food | Gaiam Life."
Healthy Green Living, Fitness & Sustainability | Gaiam Life. N.p., 2010. Web.
2 Apr. 2014.

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United States Department of Agriculture (2013). Getting More Food From Local Farms
To Schools [Video file]. Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvZVZnFTUCI
Wilson, T. "HowStuffWorks "The History of Fast Food"." HowStuffWorks. N.p., 2012.
Web. 26 Mar. 2014.