The Trump administration took further steps on Friday towards rolling back healthier standards for school lunches in America championed by Michelle Obama, proposing rules to allow more pizza, meat and potatoes over fresh vegetables, fruits and whole grains.
The new proposals would allow schools more flexibility, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) said in a statement, adding: “Because they know their children best.”
Brandon Lipps, a USDA deputy under secretary, outlined new menu standards drawn up by the the Food and Nutrition Service agency. They would allow schools to cut the amount of vegetables and fruits required at school lunch and breakfasts while giving them greater scope to sell more pizza, hamburgers and french fries to students. The agency is responsible for administering nutritional programs that feed nearly 30 million students at 99,000 schools, the Washington Post reported.
Some outlets noted the irony of the new proposals being announced on former first lady Michelle Obama’s birthday.
#BREAKING: Trump administration announces plans to roll back Michelle Obama's school lunch rules on her birthday https://t.co/a5jAcJYx3a pic.twitter.com/oPgj0nySZz
— The Hill (@thehill) January 17, 2020
Some school districts and food lobbies, such as the potato industry, have long sought to weaken standards put in place under the Obama administration that mandated more wholegrain foods, fruit and vegetables in school meals.
The Trump admin has moved to roll back school nutrition standards championed by Michelle Obama, an effort long sought by food manufacturers and some school districts. The proposed rule came on Mrs. Obama's birthday. https://t.co/yCWJOjAoXg
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 17, 2020
Colin Schwartz, deputy director of legislative affairs for Center for Science in the Public Interest, told the Post that the latest proposed rules, if finalized, “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”.
In 2017 the agriculture secretary, Sonny Perdue, began taking action to roll back the healthier school meal standards promoted by Obama, in a move away from items such as wholegrain bread or brown rice and towards more sugar and white bread. He claimed children were not favoring the healthier choices.
“If kids aren’t eating the food, and it’s ending up in the trash, they aren’t getting any nutrition – thus undermining the intent of the program,” he said at the time.
