Abstract

Despite the progress of Asheville’s tourism industry, social issues like food insecurity persist within Buncombe County. As of 2015, 21.8% of Buncombe County, North Carolina children lived in food insecure homes.1For children experiencing food insecurity, school lunches are integral to their health and development. Children need not only calories, but an appropriate amount of macronutrients to live healthy lives. This study aims to assess the nutritional quality of Buncombe County’s elementary and middle school lunches through analysis of calories, protein, carbohydrates, total fat, saturated fat, dietary fiber and sodium in comparison to recognized standards for diets of children in their respective age groups. This study was assessed 2,915 possible combinations of school lunch items available for the week of October 7th-11th, 2019. Data were obtained from Buncombe County Schools website. Each meal was then compared to recommendations set by the US Department of Health and Human Services for calories, carbohydrates, protein, fats, dietary fiber and sodium. Of the meals studied, many had excess protein, carbohydrate, saturated fat and sodium content. Further research is needed, and could explore nutritional quality of Buncombe County high school lunches, which lunches are chosen by students, or student satisfaction with school lunches.

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