The fight over school lunches intensified Tuesday as first lady Michelle Obama defended her signature school-nutrition program during a meeting with school officials and decried efforts in Congress to allow schools to delay the program.
“Now is not the time to roll back everything we have worked for,” Ms. Obama said, before heading into the meeting in Washington.
The nutritional rules, which Ms. Obama championed through the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act in 2010, increase the amount of fruits and vegetables in school meals, decrease sodium levels and modify portion sizes, among other things. The rules have sparked pushback from some school-nutrition officials and Republican lawmakers who point to higher costs, wasted food and difficulty meeting deadlines for changes.
Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture aimed to allay some of those concerns by extending a deadline on a requirement that a majority of pasta be made with whole grains.
Also last week, the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee backed a bill that called for a one-year waiver of all food regulations for schools that could show six months of financial losses tied to the rules. The full Appropriations Committee is set to review the proposed legislation on Thursday. The Senate is considering smaller changes.
“These new federal regulations should not drive local school nutrition programs underwater. This temporary one-year waiver simply throws them a lifeline,” said Brian Rell, spokesman for Rep. Robert Aderholt (R., Ala.), the chairman of the subcommittee.
Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy for the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest, a backer of the law, said that schools have made tremendous progress in recent years, and pointed to lower childhood-obesity rates. “The majority of schools are doing a good job of serving healthy food and presenting it in a way that is attractive and appealing to kids,” she said. “For those schools not able to do it, we need to help them learn how to do it, not give them a free pass to continue to serve junk food.”
Some school districts have expressed frustration with the rollout of the new rules. “I guess the waiver is a step in the right direction,” said Gitta Grether-Sweeney, nutrition-services director for Portland Public Schools in Oregon. “What I’d rather see is a slower implementation of these regulations.”
Ms. Grether-Sweeney, a registered dietitian, said that new fruit and vegetable requirements increased her expenses for produce by 31% to about $1.1 million in school year 2012-2013 from about $860,000 in 2011-2012. The difference doesn’t account for price inflation.
“The students leave the serving line, go to the garbage line and then throw away their fruit or vegetable before they sit down to eat,” she said. “It’s sad.”
Sam Kass, a White House senior adviser for nutrition policy, said that the suggested legislative changes could lead to an unwinding of the standards. “We are going to be diligently engaged on this set of issues,” said Mr. Kass in an interview on Tuesday. “The first lady is doing everything in her power not to roll back standards.”
The School Nutrition Association, a professional group for school-nutrition employees and industry members, supported the changes in the 2010 law but also came out in favor of more flexibility with the rules recently.
“We’re out here on the front lines trying to implement the standards,” said Leah Schmidt, the association’s president and director of nutrition services for the Hickman Mills C-1 School District in Kansas City, Mo. “We really feel like we need to slow down and catch our breath. We can offer healthy food all day long, but if students don’t eat it, it’s not helpful to anyone.”
The Los Angeles Unified School District’s food-service director, David Binkle, attended Tuesday’s meeting. His school district, which serves more than 120 million meals a year with a roughly $322 million budget, began overhauling its menu options about 10 years ago.
“We’re not challenged with children eating the food, but what we are challenged with is how much they have to take,” said Mr. Binkle, referring to requirements that students take at least three items for lunch. “Even I don’t eat that much food in a day, let alone a 7-year-old.”
“Now is not the time to roll back everything we have worked for,” Ms. Obama said, before heading into the meeting in Washington.
The nutritional rules, which Ms. Obama championed through the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act in 2010, increase the amount of fruits and vegetables in school meals, decrease sodium levels and modify portion sizes, among other things. The rules have sparked pushback from some school-nutrition officials and Republican lawmakers who point to higher costs, wasted food and difficulty meeting deadlines for changes.
Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture aimed to allay some of those concerns by extending a deadline on a requirement that a majority of pasta be made with whole grains.
Also last week, the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee backed a bill that called for a one-year waiver of all food regulations for schools that could show six months of financial losses tied to the rules. The full Appropriations Committee is set to review the proposed legislation on Thursday. The Senate is considering smaller changes.
“These new federal regulations should not drive local school nutrition programs underwater. This temporary one-year waiver simply throws them a lifeline,” said Brian Rell, spokesman for Rep. Robert Aderholt (R., Ala.), the chairman of the subcommittee.
Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy for the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest, a backer of the law, said that schools have made tremendous progress in recent years, and pointed to lower childhood-obesity rates. “The majority of schools are doing a good job of serving healthy food and presenting it in a way that is attractive and appealing to kids,” she said. “For those schools not able to do it, we need to help them learn how to do it, not give them a free pass to continue to serve junk food.”
Some school districts have expressed frustration with the rollout of the new rules. “I guess the waiver is a step in the right direction,” said Gitta Grether-Sweeney, nutrition-services director for Portland Public Schools in Oregon. “What I’d rather see is a slower implementation of these regulations.”
Ms. Grether-Sweeney, a registered dietitian, said that new fruit and vegetable requirements increased her expenses for produce by 31% to about $1.1 million in school year 2012-2013 from about $860,000 in 2011-2012. The difference doesn’t account for price inflation.
“The students leave the serving line, go to the garbage line and then throw away their fruit or vegetable before they sit down to eat,” she said. “It’s sad.”
Sam Kass, a White House senior adviser for nutrition policy, said that the suggested legislative changes could lead to an unwinding of the standards. “We are going to be diligently engaged on this set of issues,” said Mr. Kass in an interview on Tuesday. “The first lady is doing everything in her power not to roll back standards.”
The School Nutrition Association, a professional group for school-nutrition employees and industry members, supported the changes in the 2010 law but also came out in favor of more flexibility with the rules recently.
“We’re out here on the front lines trying to implement the standards,” said Leah Schmidt, the association’s president and director of nutrition services for the Hickman Mills C-1 School District in Kansas City, Mo. “We really feel like we need to slow down and catch our breath. We can offer healthy food all day long, but if students don’t eat it, it’s not helpful to anyone.”
The Los Angeles Unified School District’s food-service director, David Binkle, attended Tuesday’s meeting. His school district, which serves more than 120 million meals a year with a roughly $322 million budget, began overhauling its menu options about 10 years ago.
“We’re not challenged with children eating the food, but what we are challenged with is how much they have to take,” said Mr. Binkle, referring to requirements that students take at least three items for lunch. “Even I don’t eat that much food in a day, let alone a 7-year-old.”
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