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Nutritionist to Congress: Don’t mess with school meals rules

Congress should not take up a request from the School Nutrition Association to make legislative changes to the school meals rules announced by the Agriculture Department, a key nutrition advocate told The Hagstrom Report late Monday.

Margo Wootan

Margo Wootan
“USDA has been responsive to school food service feedback — adjusting guidance, providing flexibility, and removing the protein and grain maximums,” Margo Wootan, the nutrition director for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, said in an email. “No need for Congress to step in.”

Wootan was reacting to the School Nutrition Association’s release of a position paper calling on Congress to require USDA to roll back a number of the changes to school meals.

USDA is implementing rules changing school meal patterns as required under the 2010 Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act.

The School Nutrition Association, which represents school food service directors, sent its members to Capitol Hill today with series of requests for legislative changes, including more flexibility in making changes to the meals and extending the comment period on foods sold outside the school meals lines.

SNA noted that participation in the school lunch program declined after the changes were made and USDA required many schools to charge higher price to students who pay full price. (See link to position paper below.)

“There are always challenges when you do something worthwhile — but schools are working hard and the majority are serving healthier school lunches,” Wootan said.

“Ninety percent of schools are meeting the new lunch standards, so serving healthy lunches is clearly doable,” she said. “Teaching science also is challenging, but that doesn't mean schools should drop it from the curriculum.”

The Government Accountability Office released a report on the school meals changes and their impact on participation.

Wootan noted that the report “found that many of the challenges schools are facing in implementing the school meal standards are getting better over time.”

“Although participation declined in the 2012-13 school year, this trend started in 2007, well before the school meal standards went into effect in 2012,” she added.

“GAO reported that participation rates likely will improve over time as students and school food service adjust to the new meal standards, as happened in majority of school districts GAO visited. And, most of the students GAO spoke with indicated that they like to eat healthy food, and they think that their school lunches are healthy.”

“GAO’s two recommendations to USDA were modest (around documenting noncompliance and assessing state information needs). GAO did not recommend scaling back any of the school meal standards, as the School Nutrition Association is recommending,” Wootan said.