There are always opportunities at public schools for students to buy lunch. However, some students may have health guidelines or preferences against certain items. In these situations, schools try their best to provide gluten-free and non-tree-nut items, but sometimes that’s not enough. Furthermore, some students simply do not like the food that is offered on campus, so they do not eat anything until after school. A proposed solution to this issue is to have more appealing lunch options such as popular fast food chains. Although this would be a welcome change for many students, is the idea of schools offering fast food plausible or unattainable?

Of course, junior high students are growing and need to eat throughout the day. However, fast food isn’t the healthiest option. For instance, let’s say our school starts to sell McDonald’s for lunch. The addition of McDonald’s would help kids who are pickier with their food so that not as many kids are left hungry after lunch. But even if more people eat, that doesn’t mean they’ll choose the best options or get enough food. Some students might eat too little or not have enough money to pay for the meal. And if they do choose to eat McDonald’s, most likely the choices will have very high fat and sodium content.

Another problem is where the school will find the money to provide fast food. According to TCF, in the United States, K-12 schools are underfunded by almost $150 billion annually. In those schools, there isn’t room in the budget for an entire fast-food restaurant. The only way the schools could get the money for this is through fundraisers and PTA involvement. Students have disliked fundraisers in the past, so this would be an unsuccessful way to get more funding.  

In conclusion, fast food isn’t a good choice to provide for students. It can cause their diets to become unhealthy and there isn’t a way to pay for it. Although the students would favor the decision, the school would not.