A time when I can remember where food was chosen because of social norms would be in high school. The food from the cafeteria in high school was by far the best food available both health and appetizing wise. However, when you are a high school student, almost no one brings a lunch from home. The feeling of not wanting to be left out leaves you with only one choice of lunch. The school lunches are not only costly, but they are also not healthy. The lunches are fatty or fried foods with a side option of chips, cookies or any other treat you can afford on your meal plan. The social norm here is kids wanting to be like everyone else and buy a school lunch at the expense of a costly and unhealthy lunch.
The social norm here can be connected to the societal issue of nutrition and obesity as discussed in the module. Industrialized agriculture plays a key part in obesity by producing large amounts of grains which produce high-calorie foods which are then distributed in the schools. There have been efforts to reduce the high-calorie and sugary foods in the schools, but none matter without one important factor. Kids are allowed to buy any amount of lunch they desire. My solution to this issue is to not limit the amount of lunch a student can receive, but rather substitute the terrible snack choices like nachos and cookies with more fruits or vegetables. The more options of healthy alternatives you give to a child the more likely it is they steer away from the horror that is a high school lunch.
3 thoughts on “Module 6”
Hey! My name is Katy. Your post caught my eye since my school lunches were also subpart in term of nutirion at my highschool as well. During all of highschool, I only ate soft pretzals and other snacks for lunch since the school lunches never looked or tasted good. I remember how all of my friends felt the same about how the lunches looked and tasted. I agree with your post, school lunches need to have healthier options. In my post, I wrote about how being in college and having a fast paced lifestyle has changed how I eat. You can read my post here, https://wp.me/p3RCAy-bJ2 .
Hi John, my name is Will and I found your post very interesting. I went to a private school and lunches were provided at our school. However, I found it interesting that it was still very similar with the social norms. I remember in high school it was a social no no to eat from the salad bar. It was much healthier, and sometimes what was being served tasted even worse. However, I still think I never touched the salad bar once in my high school career because that was just the norm at our high school. That was what I found most interesting and if you would like to read my entry it can be found at: http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/03/03/vegetarianism-william-graf-module-6/
Hey! My name is Katy. Your post caught my eye since my school lunches were also subpart in term of nutirion at my highschool as well. During all of highschool, I only ate soft pretzals and other snacks for lunch since the school lunches never looked or tasted good. I remember how all of my friends felt the same about how the lunches looked and tasted. I agree with your post, school lunches need to have healthier options. In my post, I wrote about how being in college and having a fast paced lifestyle has changed how I eat. You can read my post here, https://wp.me/p3RCAy-bJ2 .
*nutrition *pretzels
Sorry, I hit post to early and now I can not figure out how to delete it.
Hi John, my name is Will and I found your post very interesting. I went to a private school and lunches were provided at our school. However, I found it interesting that it was still very similar with the social norms. I remember in high school it was a social no no to eat from the salad bar. It was much healthier, and sometimes what was being served tasted even worse. However, I still think I never touched the salad bar once in my high school career because that was just the norm at our high school. That was what I found most interesting and if you would like to read my entry it can be found at:
http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/03/03/vegetarianism-william-graf-module-6/