Alabama Republican Robert Aderholt, who chairs the Appropriations subcommittee on agriculture, said the waiver would give school districts time to align their menus with requirements to serve more whole grains, fruits and vegetables and less salt, fat and sugar. “This is a very real problem across the country,” said Aderholt. “It doesn’t roll back current law.” Schools that lost money on food service for six months would qualify for the waiver.
“We shouldn’t allow any school to opt out of anything. The schools are full of junk food,” said Ohio Democrat Marcy Kaptur. Florida Democrat Debbie Wasserman Schultz said tighter drafting “would make some of us more comfortable” but the committee’s Democratic leader, Nita Lowey of New York, said the best answer would be more training and equipment so schools could comply with the rules. In a statement, Farr said he would try “to remove this harmful rider as we move the bill to the floor.” Farr is Aderholt’s counterpart on the committee.
On a voice vote in the final moments of work on the bill, the committee rejected a proposal by Connecticut Democrat Rosa DeLauro to remove white potatoes from the WIC food basket. A rider in the bill wouild make them eligible. The administration campaigned energetically against the provisions. First Lady Michelle Obama targeted both in an essay in the New York Times.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and former secretary Ann Veneman wrote against the waiver in The Hill. The committee summary of the bill and amendments adopted during markup is available here. To read the report that accompanies the bill, click here.