In his journal published in 2009, Hatfield noted that as the recession was getting worse, more of the families residing in Stanislaus County were turning into the school feeding programme for assistance in feeding their children (Hatfield, 2009). It was noted that the number of the students who were registering for the school feeding programme in the Modesto schools was on the increase. The increases were noted to lie between 2-3% it most of the schools, while there was a 14% increase at Martone Elementary in west Modesto (Hatfield, 2009). The school feeding programme in the United States has been a landmark in the history of the United States. The programme aims at feeding the school going children especially those who come from poor backgrounds. However, the policy implementation has been met with challenges that have put to question the efficiency to which the policy is implemented. Furthermore, there has been concerns over the effectiveness of the programme in an atmosphere filled with stereotypes among students, weak enforcement as well as corruption by school management to have private companies provide low quality junk to the students alongside the programme. There is thus need to impose strong regulations that are aimed at watching and ensuring the effectiveness of the school feeding programme.

According to a journal that was published in the journal of the Dietetic Association in February 2009, the author noted that there was little progress that has been made in an effort to reduce the unhealthy levels of fat and saturated fat in the United States. The author noted that the diet offered in public schools was only able to meet the standards for energy intake. Moreover, it has been noted that, the programme has been hardly effective, as it has ended up with the label ‘a programme for the poor’. It is imperative that students participating in the programme through registering for the meals are marginalized by the others, and viewed as being of less social class.

Due to this perception, students have turned to cheap junk for lunch meals (Buttenheim, Alderman and Friedman, 2011). More importantly, the junk offered is available in most of the schools and thus, most students will prefer to take the high fat foods, as opposed to participating in the feeding programme. Fewer regulations have been put in place to keep the children from the high fat food especially with the increase in levels of obesity among students. Equally important is to note that the teachers and the administrators have done little in fighting stereotypes and emphasizing on the need to participate in the programme especially for the poor who cannot afford healthy meals. This has given us reason for the increasing levels of obesity among the poor (Meyers, Sampson, Weitzman, Rogers and Kayne, 1989).

A second challenge faced includes the challenge of corruption by the administrators and the policy makers in general. The programmes have turned into a political battle point, where most of the implementers benefit themselves and their relatives at the expense of the poor. It is important to note that the programme has also been used in soliciting for votes by legislators on a campaign platform. While others have indirectly benefited from the programme by allowing their own firms to sell junk food alongside the school feeding programme meals. For most of the poor students, they would rather consume the low-level starch and high-level fats in yoghurt and other unhealthy consumables and avoid the embarrassment of registering for the program (Jacoby, 2002).

Lack of emphasis from the parents and the school administration is also a serious problem. This is whereby the parents are less concerned with emphasizing the need to engage in the programme for children (Cutler, Glaeser and Shapiro, 2003). Instead, they offer them money with which they can purchase their desired meals and avoid the embarrassment at the cost of the students’ health. It is also important to note that in order for the programme to be effective, there is need to accommodate it in the curriculum, whereby the students are made aware of the dangers that are associated with consumption of junk and heavy fat consumables. Most of the parents in the lower income bracket may not have the necessary knowledge of the importance of the programme. Therefore, they may harbour the stereotype that, their children may be discriminated in school (Carroll, Kit, and Flegal, 2012). They therefore may be biased to provide their children with the lunch money, thus unwillingly undermine the objectives of the programme.

In conclusion, the school feeding programme in the United States has been significantly helpful in high poverty counties. However, the programme has not been effective in counties that comprise of a mixed population of the middle class and the poor (Cutler, Glaeser and Shapiro, 2003). The poor have ended up discriminated and thus their children often roll out of the programme or do not attempt it at all. The findings of various reports have showed that the programme has increased the number of school enrolment in poor counties especially among girls. Moreover, when we look at other countries, the school feeding programme has been very effective in countries that are developing. A good example is Ghana in Africa.