For millions of kids across America, ultra-processed food is more than just a school lunch staple — it’s a slow-acting poison. Cheap, addictive and everywhere. And for some of us, it’s deadly.

I was one of those kids.

At six years old, I was already hooked. Chips, crackers, muffins — what my mom, Helene, calls “food-shaped objects.” She packed me real lunches every day. And every day, I threw them in the trash. The school didn’t stop me. They let me buy whatever I wanted. By eighth grade, I weighed 320 pounds.

Clinically depressed. Anxious. A shadow of the person my mother knew me to be.

Ultra-processed foods hijacked my brain and body, and I wasn’t alone. Childhood obesity is skyrocketing. ADHD, anxiety, diabetes, heart disease — it’s all linked to the frankenfoods pumped into school cafeterias.

And nobody was stopping it.

So, I decided to.

The fight to ban ultra-processed food

This year, I stood before Arizona lawmakers, backing HB2164, a bill to ban ultra-processed foods from school lunches. I wasn’t just speaking for myself. I was speaking for millions of kids who don’t even realize what’s happening to them.

Because here’s the truth: this is a crisis.

We don’t let kids smoke cigarettes. We don’t let them buy alcohol. But somehow, we let them eat ultra-processed food every single day?

“We have to call it what it is,” my mom says. “A public health disaster.”

And she’s right. The science is there — processed foods are linked to obesity, diabetes, depression, even cognitive decline. Yet, we feed them to children. In schools. Funded by taxpayer dollars.

A movement bigger than me

HB2164 is just the beginning. A similar bill has already passed in California. Parents are waking up. Schools can’t keep feeding kids toxic food while pretending it’s normal.

For my mom, this fight is personal.

“No child should have to go through what my daughter did,” she says. “This isn’t a diet issue. It’s a life or death issue.”

I lost 160 pounds when I cut ultra-processed food out of my diet. I got my life back. My health. My future. But no kid should have to suffer just to figure this out.

We need real food in schools. Period.

This fight isn’t over. Not even close. But with the swipe of a pen, policymakers can end this nightmare. The question is — will they?

And for the kids still trapped in it, I’ll say this: if I can do it, so can you.

It’s time to take our health back.

Are you with me?

Penelope Popken is an Arizona teen and student.