The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 has changed the landscape of school lunch fare. For the first time in 30 years, the USDA has been given the power to enact real reforms to the school lunch and breakfast programs for millions of children. But some of those children are not so happy about the changes.

Out go the corn dogs; in come the carrots. Goodbye French fries; hello apples and sweet potatoes. So long sugary chocolate milk; welcome plain old skim milk. For some students, this is cause for mutiny. Their protests have gone viral.  Vegetables are referred to as “gross.” Students claim they are going hungry, even though the calorie requirement for elementary, middle and high schools is 650, 700 & 850, respectively. Even a $.10 rise in the cost of lunches has triggered backlash.

My question is: what have these children been eating at home? Do they never bite into a fresh apple? Never let a green bean past their lips? If these children were fed a proper nutritious diet at home, this new “healthy fare” wouldn’t seem like such a shock. I imagine these same children are voicing their opinions to their parents when they get home; I wonder how the parents respond. Do they see this as a step in the right direction or as an assault on their child’s right to eat junk?

For years, children’s school lunches contained very little nutritious fare – things like greasy pizza and hot dogs, mac and cheese and sugary beverages. Those foods in turn brought on bad habits, and those bad habits contributed to a rise in obesity and diabetes and all kinds of ills. We know now that this was wrong, but convincing our children to change their ways may be an uphill battle. The USDA is doing the right thing, and we as parents need to get behind them, behind our schools. It’s not only about educating our children on how to eat properly; good nutrition needs to start in the home.

Old habits die hard. But if we don’t break this bad habit, it will break us.