public administration Masters paper

Public Administration Name Grade Course: Tutor`s Name: (February 10, 2012) Public Administration Case Study: Reinventing School Lunch: Transforming a Food Policy into a Nutrition Policy (Laura S. Sims). The case study specifically describes the impact of policy making in the reinvention of food system in our national school lunch program. The essay enables the reader to understand some of the grassroots pressure caused the successful implementation of the program. The program which was first created by the congress in 1946, aimed at safeguarding health and the general well-being of the nation`s children. The program also encouraged the domestic consumption of the locally produced agricultural products. Although at the higher level, the program is enforced by the Federal Government, the U.S Department of Agriculture liaises with the Food and Consumer Services, the National School Lunch Program and the state department of education in the implementation process. The program was meant to benefit all the public schools while the private ones were left to voluntarily enroll. Unlike the other administration programs that the government used to introduce, food policy program set the standards of the kind of foods which were to be offered to the school children. But we must all acknowledge that dietary concerns have changed over time. Unlike in the 1940s where the government was worried of maintaining a well-balanced diet in the system, there has been a shift in today`s concern. The major concern since 1980 has been to fight obesity amongst our children. There is a great need to check what our children consume in order to check the increasing cases of obesity in their lives. There have been some controversies over the plan as some seems not to support the program while others are in favor of it. The dilemma emanates as the policy makers differed on the suitable way of using surplus agricultural commodities. Those in favor of the program argued that it will not only assist in the utilization of surplus food, but it will also feed the hungry children. The other group which opposed the program argued that the meals provided in schools contain high levels of dietary fat which are not suitable to the children`s health. Providing processed foods such as cheese, butter and meat provide high quantity of cholesterol, fat, sodium and sugar that are unfit for the childr...