On his sixth day on the job in 2017, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue made chocolate milk safe for schools again, along with white flour and salt, in the name of regulatory flexibility. Those revisions to the school food program became final in late 2018. The USDA will propose a new round of “common-sense flexibility” for school meals this week, says Perdue. Skeptics said it will mean more pizza, burgers and fries and fewer servings of fruits and vegetables.
The new proposals, which will appear on Thursday in the Federal Register, would would water down the requirements of the 2010 child nutrition law spearheaded by Michelle Obama, which required schools to serve more fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy in their meals and to cut back on salt, sugar and fat. Some schools complained the changes were expensive to carry out. Lawmakers repeatedly delayed the requirements to use more “whole-grain-rich” breads and pasta and to use less salt.
“Schools and school districts continue to tell us that there still is too much food waste and that more common-sense flexibility is needed to provide students nutritious and appetizing meals,” said Perdue on Friday. “We listened and now we’re going to work.” The USDA timed Perdue’s announcement to coincide with a roundtable discussion on school nutrition in San Antonio, Texas.
The proposals would allow schools to sell lunch entrees on the a la carte line, “add flexibility” to the requirement to serve vegetables at lunch, and cut in half the amount of fruit, now one cup, served to students at breakfast.
Researchers say the nutritional quality of school meals increased by more than 40 percent following implementation of the 2010 reforms. Released last April, the first comprehensive study of the new standards found student participation rates were highest (at 60 percent or more) in schools that served higher-quality meals and notably lower (at 50 percent) in schools with the lowest-rated meals. There was no significant difference in cost to schools between preparing the more nutritious meals and those that scored lowest on the healthy-eating index used in the study.
Colin Schwartz of the consumer group Center for Science in the Public Interest said the Trump administration proposal would sabotage the obesity-prevention aspects of the 2010 child nutrition reforms. As an example, he pointed to a provision that would allow schools to stock the a la carte line with items that are allowed as an entree on the lunch line. “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 Union of Concerned Scientists said the proposals would weaken the school meals program. Schools could serve potatoes daily, reduce the amount of fruits and vegetables served as part of meals and serve pizza and hamburgers instead of healthier alternatives, said Sarah Reinhardt, UCS health analyst. “The proposed rule shows an appalling disregard for families across the country who are counting on the government to act in the best interests of their children.”
“Just because President Trump consumes cheeseburgers and fries every day doesn’t mean children want of should be given the same choice,” said Ken Cook of the Environmental Working Group. “There are far too many kids struggling with obesity in this country and we should be making it easier for them to choose fresh, local whole fruits and vegetables, not limiting them to highly processed foods that will only make this epidemic worse.”
An average 29.5 million students daily ate hot meals through the school lunch program and 14.7 million children participated daily in the school breakfast program in fiscal 2019, according to USDA data.
To read the Federal Register notice scheduled for Thursday, click here.