Do You Support a Rollback of Healthy School Lunch Rules?

What’s the story?

• New York is leading a group of states in suing the Trump administration over changes it made to school lunch nutrition standards that now allow for fewer whole grains, more sodium, and additional milk flavors in children’s meals.
• The lawsuit accuses the U.S. Department of Agriculture of rolling back school breakfast and lunch standards without a required public comment period and ignoring federal dietary guidelines and scientific research on children’s nutrition.
• The original rules were championed by former first lady Michelle Obama in an effort to make school meals healthier—it had set limits for calories, sodium and trans fats, while also requiring more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.

What are people saying?

Critics of the rollback

• “Over a million children in New York -- especially those in low-income communities and communities of color -- depend on the meals served daily by their schools to be healthy, nutritious, and prepare them for learning,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement.

“The Trump Administration has undermined key health benefits for our children - standards for salt and whole grains in school meals - with deliberate disregard for science, expert opinion, and the law. My office will use every tool at our disposal to fight back against these shameful rollbacks and ensure our children our protected.”

• "Just because children would rather eat heavily salted, processed foods at school doesn't mean they should," said Ken Cook, president of Environmental Working Group.

Supporters of the rollback

• The Department of Agriculture has not responded to requests for comment.
• However, when the changes were initially announced in 2017, USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue argued the move was not meant to diminish nutritional standards but to cut down on waste from children not eating the healthier options.
• "We're not winding back any standards at all," Perdue said. "We are just slowing down the process." He added: "I applaud former First Lady Michelle Obama for addressing those obesity problems in the past," he said.

"I wouldn't be as big as I am today without chocolate milk," Perdue said.

What do you think?

Do you support the lawsuit? Or do you support the rollback? Take action and tell your reps, then share your thoughts below.

—Josh Herman

(Photo Credit: iStockphoto.com / asiseeit)