New School Lunches

This upcoming school year, health-minded students in Greenville County School District in South Carolina will be able to opt for vegetarian, raw, and unprocessed foods during their lunches. Partnering with the Culinary Institute at Greenville Technical College, cafeteria workers are being trained to prepare more nutritious meals, such whole-grain pastas, black bean burgers, and tofu. The district’s nutritionist estimates that 41 percent of the students suffer from obesity, and some have additional health problems like high cholesterol and diabetes. This new lunch program could help lower the alarming health statistics. “We have always said a hungry child can’t learn,” Kim Kelley, a cafeteria worker, told a local news station. “If we are giving them something that will keep them full longer and help their brain power, how do you argue with that?”