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If an alien species were to visit our school cafeterias at lunchtime, it might conclude that we don’t value the health and well-being of the most vulnerable members of our society-our developing children. Not only are our youth daily served low-quality processed products, they are inculcated, at a young age, to the factory-farm model at the heart of our worst environmental problems, namely water pollution, soil erosion, global climate change and fossil fuel depletion.

Even if students learn about ecology, energy conservation and endangered species in the classroom, the real lesson is in the cafeteria, where the adults who implore students to care about the earth serve them the products most responsible for its destruction.

What if students were offered freshly-prepared meals made with locally-sourced fruits, vegetables, meats and cheeses instead of thawed processed chicken nuggets, re-heated canned vegetables, high-fructose corn syrup soft drinks and frozen potatoes fried in partially-hydrogenated oils? According to one Ohio school district: