The National School Lunch Program Essay Example for Free

The National School Lunch Program Essay The provision of school meals in America began, as it did in many other lands in a rather sporadic way. According to the web site about the history of the School Lunch Program, in New York The Children’s Aid Society started a program in 1853, but it wasn’t until Robert Hunter’s book ‘Poverty’ was published in 1904 that other areas really took up the challenge. Hunter felt that it was no good having a law that compelled children to go to school if they were so hungry that they couldn’t concentrate or gain much benefit. In Philadelphia the Starr Association had begun serving penny dinners in 1894 and in 1908 programs were begun in Boston by the Women’s Educational and Industrial Union. The children ate their dinners at their desks, there being at that time no school food halls. By the end of the 1910 school year 2,000 pupils were being served. Ellen H. Richards wrote in the Journal of Home Economics for December 1910, The teachers are unanimous in the belief that the luncheons are   helping the children both physically and mentally. They are more   attentive and interested in the lessons during the last hour of the morning and the result in their recitations gives the proof. The National School Lunch Program started in 1946 under the National School Lunch Act signed by the then president Harry S. Truman, though school meals had been provided for many years before that through foods and subsidies from the United States Department of Agriculture. The reasoning behind the act was not just nutrition, but national security. This was because when America entered World War II it found that many recruits were of poor physical condition, especially those who had grown up in poor families during the depression years of the 30’s. As soon as that war finished America began to think about the next wave of conscription as it expected to have to fight communism in the near future. It was mainly under the auspices of General George C. Marshall, a member of the cabinet. According to the statute book its aims were as follows:- It is hereby declared to Congress, as a measure of national security, to safeguard the health and well-being of the Nation’s children and to encourage domestic consumption of nutritious agricultural commodities and other food, by assisting the States, through grants-in-aid and other means, in providing an adequate supply of foods and other facilities for the establishment, maintenance, operation, and expansion of nonprofit school lunch programs. The federally assisted program now operates in 100,000 both public and private schools. 7.1 million children benefited in the first year and the program now provides lunches to 29 million school children each day. The cost in 1947 was $70 million, but by 2005 it was $7.9 billion – a huge investment in the future health of the nation. The aim is that meals are free or at a low cost and that they are nutritionally balanced. In 1998 the program was expanded to include young people up to the age of 18 and also to include snacks served to children at after school educational and enrichment programs. At state level it is usually under the state education authorities who operate through agreements with the school food authorities. Usually it is high schools, both public and non-profit making private ones, who participate as well as private residential child care facilities who take part in the program. I t works by giving both cash and commodities to the institutions involved, the latter, known as ‘entitlement foods’ coming from the U.S. Department of Agriculture at a value of 16.75 cents for each meal served. They may also be given extra food from surplus stocks. In return the schools must meet federal standards in the food that they serve and offer these freely or at a reduced price to eligible children. Other support is available through the USDA’s Team Nutrition who provide nutritional and technical help and also provide nutritional education for pupils. The schools may decide for themselves which foods are served, but must comply with Federal nutritional guidelines which state that no more than 30% of calories should come from fat and less than 10% from saturated fat. They should also provide at least one third of the recommended needs for protein, vitamins, iron, calcium and calories. The meals are available to all children at schools which take part in the program. Those with incomes of less than $26,000 for a family of 4 i.e.130% of the poverty level get their meals free. Those with incomes between this and $37,000 i.e.185 % of the poverty level, get their meals at the subsidised price of no more than 40 cents. These figures are valid until June 30th, 2007. Other children pay more, but the school meal services must be run on a non-profit basis. When it comes to after school snacks if more than half the children in an area are eligible for free or reduced price school meals, then snacks may be free too. Reimbursements to the schools vary a little. Those in Alaska and Hawaii receive more, as do schools with a very high percentage of poorer pupils. There are links with local producers who can provide fresh food such as salad vegetables and fruit. The USDA works with the Department of Defence to provide food purchased through the Department of Defence. The supplies are monitored for fat content and their safety. Programs such as this provide children with the possibility of at least one nutritionally balanced meal a day. This may be prepared in a central kitchen, either r private or belonging to the educational authorities and distributed to schools. Other schools have their own kitchens. What the program can’t do is ensure that the meals are eaten rather than some fast food bought in or bough tin school from vending machines.. they also cannot ensure that the rest of a child’s nutrition is balanced or indeed that he gets enough other food. They educate children about nutrition, but children are not usually the food buyers or cooks at home. It may be, especially in the case of minorities and new arrivals, that the children find school meals unpalatable simply because they are different to what they get at home. Vending machines are in schools which provide other foods at extra cost which are not necessarily nutritionally so good such as chips and soda. There will always be children who prefer these. It would be a dictator who insisted that every one ate the same food, but do these poorer foods have to be so freely available? However many schools raise much needed funds in this way, though child obesity it must be said is a growing concern. For many children their school lunch is the main meal of the day. It is easy to give in to the demands for fast foods, even when those doing so know that they are ultimately harmful. Schools can either use a Nutrient Standard or the older food Group system when choosing the foods they provide. The Nutrient Standard is more accurate in providing a balanced diet, but most schools still prefer the older system. Choice USA recommends that parents regularly review the food that their children are receiving and discuss their choices with them. The child Nutrition Act of 1966 followed on from the National School Lunch Act. Under this act free or low breakfasts could also be provided. This had been initiated by the Black Panther Party earlier. President Johnson said when he gave his signature to the act ‘Good nutrition is essential to good learning.’ There had also been a Special Milk Program which began in 1954. The United States tries to care for all its citizens and so there is also a Child and Adult Care Food Program for both children and elderly and mentally or physically impaired adults in non-residential centers, and the Food Stamp program which began in 1953, so there has been a move away from just ensuring that those called to military service are fit to serve. All this from such small beginnings in one New York school. Electronic Sources Child Nutrition Act found 30th May 2007 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_Nutrition_Act Choice USA found 30th May 2007 at http://www.choiceusa.net/Parents_NSLP.html The history of school meal programs found 30th May 2007 at http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/Lunch/AboutLunch/ProgramHistory_2.htm National School Lunch Program found 30th May 2007 at http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/Lunch/AboutLunch/NSLPFactSheet.pdf School Nutrition found 30th May 2007 at http://www.schoolnutrition.org/uploadedFiles/ASFSA/childnutrition/govtaffairs/nsla.pdf

SHARKS :: essays research papers

Out of all the species walking, flying, slithering or swimming, there aren't many who have been around as long, survived as well, or come in so many shapes and kinds as the shark. The earliest evidences of sharks are isolated spines, teeth and scales that appeared about 430 million years ago in the Silurian Period, known as the "Age of Fishes". Sharks have a sleek, streamlined design which helps them swim without using up a lot of energy.They certainly need to conserve their energy because they never really sleep and most of them never stop swimming. Some sharks are fierce predators, and would be happy to eat you if they encountered you. Almost any shark six feet or longer is a potential danger, but three species have been identified repeatedly in attacks: the Great White Shark, the Tiger Shark and the Bull Shark . All three live world wide, reach large sizes and eat large prey such as marine mammals or sea turtles. But most sharks never grow longer than five feet and never even see anyone with legs and arms anyway. People kill thousands more sharks every year than sharks kill people. Sharks take about as long to mature as we do. Some of them become adults in their teens. A mother shark carries her babies inside her body while they develop, sometimes for more than a year. Even so, some sharks are born inside an egg which they have to crack open. They spend early portions of their lives in nursery grounds. Some of the advantages sharks have over people is that they keep growing new teeth, they don't have breakable bones, and they are not prone to get cancer. Sometimes sharks are referred to as swimming computers because of the six senses which they possess: vision, hearing, vibration, smell, taste and electro-perception. Sharks come in many shapes, sizes, and colors. They have different personalities, and they live in oceans all over the world. Not much you can say about sharks is true for all of them, but there are a few things you can say about the anatomy of most sharks. They breathe through gill slits, have rigid fins and they don't have a bladder. The Whale Shark is the biggest creature in the ocean, about eleven times taller than your Mom or Dad, and weighing in at about 2,000 pounds. A Whale Shark wouldn't be too interested in eating you, but you could offer him about half a ton of teeny fish, crustaceans and little drifting invertebrates and he would be very happy.

Controversial Issue in the It Field Essay

The problem is that people don’t really know or think there is a difference between network administrator and system administrator. Just because they have administrator in the name does not mean they do the same thing. When u go to school u have to pick one or the other because one degree is not going to get u a job in both fields. Network Administrator: A member of a staff or group of a staff who have the responsibility for the smooth functioning of a large network. They carry out a number of functions: defining and enforcing security policies, specifying routing policies, accounting for system resources on the network and ensuring that they are efficiently used, responding to hardware and systems errors, and administering any connections to external networks such as the Internet. Sometimes the termSystem Administrator is used to describe a network administrator although this may be someone who administers a small network where many of the network functions tend to be trivial. Skills needed to become a systems administrator: The subject matter of systems administration includes computer systems and the ways people use them in an organization. This entails knowledge of operating systems and applications, as well as hardware and software troubleshooting, but also knowledge of the purposes for which people in the organization use the computers. However, perhaps the most important skill to a system administrator is problem solving frequently under various sorts of constraints and stress. The sysadmin is on call when a computer system goes down or malfunctions, and must be able to quickly and correctly diagnose what is wrong and how best to fix it. System administrators are not software engineers or developers. It is not usually within their duties to design or write new applications software. However, sysadmins must understand the behavior of software in order to deploy it and to troubleshoot problems, and generally know several programming languages used for scripting or automation of routine tasks. Particularly when dealing with Internet-facing or business-critical systems, a sysadmin must have a strong grasp of computer security. This includes not merely deploying software patches, but also preventing break-ins and other security problems with preventive measures. In some organizations, computer security administration is a separate role responsible for overall security and the upkeep of firewalls and intrusion detection systems, but all sysadmins are generally responsible for the security of the systems in their keep Analyzing systems logs and identifying potential issues with computer systems. Introducing and integrating new technologies into existing data centers environments. Performing routine audits of systems and software. Performing regular backups of computers and servers. Applying the operating system updates, patches, and configuration changes. Installing and configuring new hardware and software. Adding, removing, or updating user accounts information, resetting user Passwords, etc. Answering technical queries. Responsibility for security of the information traveling on the netwoek. Responsibility for documenting the configuration of the system. Troubleshooting any reported problems. System performance evaluations. Ensuring that the network infrastructure is up and running. In larger organizations, some tasks listed above may be divided among different system administrators or members of different organizational groups. For example, a dedicated individual(s) may apply all system upgrades, a Quality Assurance (QA) team may perform testing and validation, and one or more technical writers may be responsible for all technical documentation written for a company. In smaller organizations, IT/computing specialties are less often discerned in detail, and the term system administrator is used in a rather generic way they are the people who know how the computer systems work and can respond when something fails.

The Ideal Hero Of Theseus The Quintessential Hero

The Greek definition of an ideal hero is someone that is courageous, brave, strong, positive, righteous, believable, relatable, an essential noble, and the most important someone that values trying to be the best that he could be. So, who would be considered the quintessential Hero? I think that Theseus is the quintessential hero. His relatable and heroic qualities make him the ideal hero. He combined strength, power, and wisdom. He defended the oppressed and constantly fought for the ideal of justice and righteousness. He accomplished more heroic deeds that the other heroes. Theseus was easy to admire and very relatable. People are able to use him as their determination to complete any goal or quest given to them. He defended the†¦show more content†¦The people of Athens heard about his heroic deeds and praised him as a hero. He accomplished more heroic deeds that the other heroes. Theseus was own as heroes before even completing his quest. All of them had the main quest that they wanted to accomplish. Jason’s was to go to the eastern end of the black sea to get the golden fleece and return to regain the throne. Perseus was to get medusa’s head to save his mother from marrying polydecties. They both were labeled as heroes after completing their task. Theseus on the other hand, his quest was to travels to the city of Athens to meet his father. He overcomes many obstacles along the way. Therefore, by the time he reaches Athens, he was known as a hero. He cleared the road of any possible danger that could occur on the road to then. The people of Athens heard about his heroic deeds and praised him as a hero. Theseus was easy to admire and very relatable. According to Peter Stillman,† the hero must, despite his superman achievements must have something in common with the meekest people†.(5) Which mean despite all their big accomplishments, the hero must have at least one thing in common with the average person. Theseus is more retable that both Jason and Perseus. He was mostly known for being a mortal since Poseidon never helped him with anything. Jason got help from Medea and Hercules got help from both Hermes and Athena. Being the son of a mortal, Theseus was still able to accomplish many smarts and physical