SAVE OUR SCHOOL LUNCHES

Crilled cheese, onion rings, garlicky green beans and Tostitos chips with salsa. That’s what was on the lunch menu one day at the end of the 2018-19 school year at many New York City public schools. Two days later, students got chicken and waffles with home fries and creamed spinach. Fried carbs and a sad vegetable: This is what school lunches look like in much of America. It’s a little hard to swallow when you realize that a sample lunch in Greece includes baked chicken over orzo, while kids in Italy get local fish on a bed of arugula. Probably not unrelated: The U.S. has among the highest childhood obesity rates in the world.

Our school lunches were starting to look up a few years ago. Michelle Obama worked to pass the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, which required cafeterias to lower sodium levels, cut back on higher-fat flavored milk, and add more whole grains. Recently, however, those healthier