Nutrition standards have changed in America throughout the years, and one indicator of this is the school lunches served to our nation’s children.
Today’s infographic will focus on the ever-changing national nutrition standards of public schools. While school lunches have been around for longer, this infographic focuses specifically on school lunches since the 1930s. And boy, how the times have changed. Regardless of how you feel about school lunches now, you cannot deny that we’ve come a long way from lima bean and barley soup, for better or for worse. School lunches can say a lot about the nation’s nutrition standards, and it’s apparent from this infographic that the nutritional standards have shifted a lot over time.
Aside from the actual meals themselves, the total cost of school lunches has changed over time as well. In the 1930s, an average school lunch cost ten cents, and this amount increased quite steadily until the 1990s, when vending machines and local fast food vendors became commonplace in schools and school lunches cost upwards of $5.50.
Nowadays, the primary focus of school lunches are to be filling and nutritious. Healthy eating has gained insurmountable cultural momentum over the years, and school lunches are proof of that. View the rest of the infographic to see how school lunches have changed over the years!