Loudoun County, which has dominated the list for the richest counties in the U.S. for over a decade, is too poor to provide salads in its public school cafeterias. Due to budget cuts made by the school board, the county can no longer afford to purchase the ingredients it needs to make salads.

In lieu of salads, the cafeteria now puts out lunches like tortilla chips and cheese dip and bagels with yogurt. It is not fair to the students who do not have time or money to pack a healthier lunch at home to have to be given these unhealthy choices. Chips and cheese dip are packed with trans and saturated fats that lead to the clogging of arteries, higher blood pressure and cholesterol. Bagels and yogurt are high in sugars, carbs, and empty calories. The county is not doing anyone a favor by providing these unwholesome meals to the youth of our nation.

Obesity is an epidemic in America. We are the world second fattest nation in the world. Mexico is number one because they are getting fatter, not because we’re getting any skinnier. We see commercial on TV urging parents to feed their children foods that are good for them, but how can the government criticize parents when an institution where they will be spending 13 years in for 180 days is providing meals that are slowly killing them. It is hypocritical.

As a community, there has been little response to this atrocity, which should have angered many parents in the area. Parents put their own flesh and blood into a system expecting them to protect and nurture their issues. If my child was not given even the choice of making a conscious and healthy decision, I would be outraged. How are they going to give us the choice of picking a career when we can’t even pick a salad? Although it may seem like a small matter taking salads out of cafeteria, it’s not. What message are we sending out to the youth? It’s okay to eat unhealthily just because someone says so? We shouldn’t have to take this. We should ask – no, demand to have healthier options.

I understand that salads are not going to solve the national obesity epidemic, but it is a small step we can take to ensure that future generations know how to live a healthy lifestyle. It’s okay to have a burger, fries, and a shake every once in a while, but why are we letting today’s youth have them everyday? We want what’s best for the future, yet we enable them and their self-destructive choices because it is simply easier. It may have been easier to scrap the budget for salads, but it was not the right thing to do.

Healthier school lunches may cost more to produce, but in the long run the benefits will outweigh the costs. Instead of selling cookies and ice cream, why don’t we follow our European counterparts and sell fresh fruit and vegetables? Asking the American cafeteria system to change overnight is foolish, but if we could make small changes we could reform the structure and make something good happen.