From NPR: More Pizza And Fries? USDA Proposes To ‘Simplify’ Obama-Era School Lunch Rules

An excerpt:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has proposed new rules for school meals aimed at giving administrators more flexibility in what they serve in school cafeterias around the country each day.

For instance, instead of being required to offer higher quantities of nutrient-dense red and orange vegetables such as carrots, peppers and buttternut squash, schools would have more discretion over the varieties of vegetables they offer each day. In addition, students will be allowed to purchase more entree items as a la carte selections…

Critics say the proposed changes from the Trump administration amount to further rollbacks of the nutrition standards put in place during the Obama administration following the passage of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010…

“In practice, if finalized, this would create a huge loophole in school nutrition guidelines, paving the way for children to choose pizza, burgers, French fries, and other foods high in calories, saturated fat or sodium in place of balanced school meals every day,” The proposal follows a spate of rule changes announced by Perdue in 2018 that weakened the whole grain requirements and gave school administrators more leeway to serve up white breads and biscuits. 

My take: School lunch standards do not need to be rolled back.  While improving nutrition at schools will not solve the epidemic of obesity, it needs to be at least one piece of a much bigger puzzle.

Related blog posts:

• Rolling Back School Lunch Standards
• Good Nutrition News in Our Schools –Why Not a Press Release?
• NY Times: “Our Food is Killing Too Many of Us”
• The Paramount Health Challenge for Humans in the 21st Century
• How to Improve Food Selection at Schools
• Lunchroom Makeover | gutsandgrowth
• Is Drinking Milk Healthy? | gutsandgrowth
• Weight of the Nation | gutsandgrowth