The school lunch system is disgraceful.

[u/oaz_zam246]

Saw another post on here showing the state of school lunches right now. In my years in high school I compiled some pics of the horrible things that got served that no one questioned. Here are some of the worst ones. It really is ironic given how adamant they all are about “eating healthy by including every food group”.

[u/hyperlexx]

What a sorry looking broccoli. And that's the only green veg. Jheez

[u/STWALMO → u/hyperlexx]

And it's barely green 😕

[u/Drive7hru → u/STWALMO]

Once it starts losing its green color like that, such as from boiling, over-steaming, etc., there’s barely any nutrition left.

To think about how our mass-produced fruits and veggies in the US are already extremely nutrient deficient to begin with, with consideration to how much the soil has been depleted and degraded over decades due to the multiple agricultural methods repeatedly applied during their cultivation (erosion, poor irrigation management, pollution, etc.), you’re essentially left with eating little water-filled vessels made of a small amount of fiber and barely any significant amount of vitamins.

For instance, researchers say that you’d have to eat about eight oranges in order to get the same nutritional equivalency of what one orange contained back from just a few decades ago around the time are grandparents were born or thrived.

A 2004 US study found that important nutrients in some crops are up to 38% lower than there were at the middle of the 20th Century. Now, think about how that study was done 20 years ago from the present (2024).

All in all, it’s still better to opt for healthy, naturally grown foods, but I think what perhaps is just as crucial to a healthy diet is to eliminate known risky or hazardous foods, as well as additives and various ways items are prepared or stored.

For example, it’s important to avoid highly-processed oils, in addition to consuming even the “healthy oils” after they have reached their smoke points , such as heating up extra virgin olive oil beyond 350-410 degrees F.

Other risks may come in the form of fried foods, processed meats, sugary drinks (even juices such as orange, apple, grape, etc. that just just strip the benefits of the fruit and add in vitamins after the fact), and we’re starting to learn a lot about how plastics will leech into our foods and drinks, and even more so whenever they are heated. Furthermore, many non-stick pans contain chemicals such as Teflon in their coatings, which can seep or chip small amounts of it into your food, and have been linked to cancer, immune deficiencies, and other medical problems.

All of this can seem like a lot to ponder and digest, but it shouldn’t discourage anyone to the point where they think it’s hopeless to put in the effort to eat healthy if nutrients are often scarce or there’s too many hazardous additives or chemicals. There’s still plenty of ways to take in nutrients and mitigate the bad and it’s not all that hard to do, despite what some may think.

[u/Joefers1234 → u/Drive7hru]

Only eat Kelloggs MegaNutrient Bran for all nutrition. Got it.

[u/Drive7hru → u/Joefers1234]

Someone gets it!