Full Stomach, Empty Wallet

Lakeland High School has lunch at 11:40-12:10 every day.
Most students near the high school have fast food choices at McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Dairy Queen, Zips, and surrounding coffee shops.
With all the food options, many students go out to eat instead of bringing lunch from home.
According to Money/US News, studies have shown that people who eat fast food frequently consume more calories and unhealthy amounts of fat, sodium, and sugar compared to those who bring an at-home lunch. Not eating enough proteins, vitamins, and unprocessed foods can lead to malnutrition.
Eating a home-cooked meal is the better option to balance your nutrition intake.
Another factor to consider when choosing what to eat for the day is the financial effects fast food can have on one’s bank account.
Themycenaean.org estimates that all high school students spend 24% of their money on fast food. The money spent on fast food could have been spent on smarter options that can benefit the individual in the future, such as putting it into a savings account or spending it on things needed like textbooks or tuition costs for the individual’s education after high school.
Fast food restaurants are popular for their low prices and convenience, but they have long-term costs that are worth much more.
“When I go out to lunch during the school week, I spend so much more money than I used to,” Chloe Neff, a junior at Lakeland High School, said.
Fast food also has an environmental impact from the wasteful packaging and excess energy use.
According to Shapiroe.com, only 14% of fast-food plastic packaging is recycled. This means that all of the fast-food industry’s single-use packaging goes to waste and contributes to the 269,000 tons of plastic pollution currently floating around the earth’s oceans.
Fast-food restaurants generate a larger amount of waste than sit-down restaurants due to their readily available food and the overconsumption they create.
Another reason it is better to bring home-cooked meals to lunch is because you can control the quality and freshness of your meals.
According to the Chef Ann Foundation, home-cooked meals provide more nourishment and sustained energy. They contain more fiber and proteins and less preservatives. Home cooking can also help maintain a healthy diet.
Fast food provides small bursts of energy for a short period of time, followed by feelings of extreme fatigue.
AMN Healthcare says that sugary and processed foods cause fatigue and slow metabolism. Junk food’s insufficient protein burdens metabolism because your pancreas secretes higher amounts of insulin to prevent a spike in blood sugar levels, which zaps your body’s energy and leaves you fatigued.
This heavy reliance on fast food has left many Lakeland students with empty pockets and extreme fatigue.