1. Describe the federal government's new mandate for school menus that all public schools must follow.
2. Why has the federal government implemented this mandate?
3. a) How are students across the country responding to the new requirements?
b) What did the students of the Mukwonago, WI school district do this week to express their opposition to the new lunches?
4. To which part of the mandate are students like Nick Blohm most opposed?
5. What does Mukwonago's district food service supervisor Pam Harris think of the new mandate?
6. What action has she taken in response to the mandate?
7. How has senior football player Nick Blohm solved his problem with the inadequate school lunches?
8. Ask a parent, and also a grandparent, what they ate for lunch when they were in high school.
9. Reacting to the problem of childhood obesity, the federal government has mandated requirements for every public school in the country. But this mandate has created some new problems.
a) Who should determine school regulations such as school lunch requirements: the federal government, the state government or the local school board, principal and PTA?
b) If a school receives money from the federal government to provide reduced price and free lunches for students, what type of control should the government then have over the lunch program?
c) If students don't like the school lunches, should they instead bring lunch from home? (We are referring to those who are able to do so.) Explain your answer.
10. If the government can mandate what schools serve in the cafeteria, will they someday monitor the amount/type of lunch a student brings from home? Do you think this should be the role of the government? Explain your answers.