Roberts to eat school lunch today
January 30, 2015 |07:11 AM
Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., will eat school lunch today at Mill Valley High School in Shawnee, Kan.
In an advisory inviting reporters to be present, Roberts noted that federal child nutrition programs are set to expire on September 30 and that Congress is scheduled to reauthorize them this year.
Roberts will meet with administrators, students and faculty and will eat school lunch with six students who serve as the board of directors for the school store called the Catty Shack, the advisory said.
“I will be in Kansas eating school lunch with the folks that have to work within federal nutrition guidelines. I want to know what works and what doesn’t," Roberts said.
But Roberts signaled that he has chosen a school where there are complaints about the school meal rules under the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act, which was passed in 2010 when the Democrats controlled Congress and First Lady Michelle Obama championed the changes.
“Mill Valley is an example of a school with a strong foodservice director with lots of resources, and even they have challenges in complying with these new rules,” he said.
“Imagine the challenges facing our rural schools, which have fewer resources. We need a policy that allows all schools to provide nutritious and fulfilling meals to our kids in an effective and efficient way.”
The School Nutrition Association, which represents school food service directors and companies that make the foods for school meals, have proposed rollbacks of some of the requirements for healthier eating, but nutritionists continue to back the healthier eating rules.
In an advisory inviting reporters to be present, Roberts noted that federal child nutrition programs are set to expire on September 30 and that Congress is scheduled to reauthorize them this year.
Roberts will meet with administrators, students and faculty and will eat school lunch with six students who serve as the board of directors for the school store called the Catty Shack, the advisory said.
“I will be in Kansas eating school lunch with the folks that have to work within federal nutrition guidelines. I want to know what works and what doesn’t," Roberts said.
But Roberts signaled that he has chosen a school where there are complaints about the school meal rules under the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act, which was passed in 2010 when the Democrats controlled Congress and First Lady Michelle Obama championed the changes.
“Mill Valley is an example of a school with a strong foodservice director with lots of resources, and even they have challenges in complying with these new rules,” he said.
“Imagine the challenges facing our rural schools, which have fewer resources. We need a policy that allows all schools to provide nutritious and fulfilling meals to our kids in an effective and efficient way.”
The School Nutrition Association, which represents school food service directors and companies that make the foods for school meals, have proposed rollbacks of some of the requirements for healthier eating, but nutritionists continue to back the healthier eating rules.
