The U.S. Department of Agriculture is rolling back the Hunger-Free Kids Act championed by Former First Lady Michelle Obama.
The plan to deregulate the school lunch program was first brought up in a press conference in May of 2017. Sonny Perdue, the Agriculture Secretary at that time, said the decision was not an attempt to reduce nutritional standards.
We’re not winding back any standards at all. We are just slowing down the process.”
“This is not reducing the nutritional standards whatsoever.”
Perdue said that children would be more likely to avoid nutritious foods altogether if they weren’t given more options. And if that’s not dumb enough for you, he also said:
I wouldn’t be as big as I am today without chocolate milk.”
The former Georgia governor was joined by Senate Agriculture Chairman Pat Roberts at an elementary school in Leesburg, VA. who also gave us a ridiculous quote:
Try eating a biscuit made with whole grains. It just doesn’t work!”
The Trump administration says they are trying to reduce “unnecessary regulatory burdens” across the federal government.
Former First Lady Michelle Obama initiated the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act as part of her campaign against obesity. The program made some minor improvements in school lunches but it also had some misguided rules as well, and while overall it was not making school lunches healthy, it was a pretty big step in the right direction. Now we are taking a step back to give more control to big business to dictate what our kids eat. But if any of these people knew what they were doing they would know that the fat is not the problem with chocolate milk, it’s the sugar, and the milk itself.
The Trump administration is putting politics before children’s health in ways worse than were expected.” – The Center for Science in the Public Interest