Well, This Can't Be Good for National Security...

Why, yes...I would like fries with that...

CNN and the Associated Press ran a story this week involving a group of retired military officers named Mission: Readiness who released a report on Tuesday saying that obesity among America's youth poses a serious threat to National Security, citing that approximately 9 million young adults, or 27% of Americans age 17-24 are "too fat to join the military". They contend that this could lead to serious problems in meeting recruitment standards by 2030, and the group is placing most of the blame on school, who are providing kids with french fries, pizza, chicken nuggets, and all those other delicious foods that kids like. Mission: Readiness is currently lobbying Congress to eliminate junk food and high calorie drinks from schools, and to put more money into the National School Lunch Program to develop healthier options. I nearly choked on my Whataburger taquito as I read this.

Of course, national security being associated with school lunches is nothing new. The National School Lunch Program (NSLP), administered by the American Department of Agriculture (ADA), was created shortly after World War II partially in response to the military having to turn away malnourished recruits, and partially as a way to sell agricultural products. Concern about the fat content in school lunches and efforts to reform the NSLP is nothing new, either. In the 1980's studies began to come out saying that the fat and saturated fat content of school lunches was too high, and so by the 1990's, efforts to reform the program were underway. As it turns out, reforming the program is no easy task, thanks to the bureaucratic problems inherent in trying to change the way a program that has been in existence for a long time does things, and to the political problems inherent in a program who's purpose is not only to feed schoolchildren, but also to serve as a customer for suppliers of agricultural products.

Reforming the NSLP, if successful, certainly isn't going to hurt, but are school lunches really the root of the problem? Hilariously enough, after I watched the segment CNN ran on the story the other day I changed the channel and saw a commercial for KFC's new chicken "sandwich". Basically, its two pieces of fried chicken (or grilled, to be fair), with cheese and bacon in between them. Now, I'm sure its Atkins-friendly, but that's a another blog post for another day.

Is our fast-food culture making us soft? Food for thought, people.