Will the Trump Era Transform the School Lunch?

The 45th administration is a clown car of mendacity and idiocy.

Michelle Obama promoted healthy food for children, so Trump's Secretary of Agriculture is going to make speeches opposing healthy food for children?

Jeez. This truly is like Orwell's 1984, where the Ministry of Love tortures people. The Secretary of Agriculture is opposed to healthy food for little kids!

You could not make this stuff up. And we have 3.5 more years of this?

Its amazing how these republican excuses for human beings can spew their nonsense without a care in the world. I have rule one do not knowingly have anything at all to do with a republican - do not soil yourself.

Let guess: ketchup is a vegetable again, potato chips are considered a starch, and sausage pizza counts as both meat and dairy.

Better living through chemistry! Not!

American kids need to eat more brain food in order to compete against the Chinese.

Outstanding article.

Unfortunately, the politicization of school lunches is nothing new. The dairy industry has lobbied for decades for guidelines encouraging the consumption of milk, which are enshrined in the Obama era regulations, as well as those which preceded them, despite evidence that large quantities of dairy products do nothing to promote health. Problematically, 25% of Americans, and 75% of the world, is lactose intolerant. This is a racial issue as well. While most Northern Europeans maintain the ability to break down lactose as they age, the majority of Black, Hispanic, Asian, and Native Americans do not. As a result, these guidelines contribute to gastrointestinal problems for millions of children.

Sources:
http://time.com/4130043/lobbying-politics-dietary-guidelines/
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-11-26/health/ct-met-school-milk-...
http://www.pcrm.org/health/diets/vegdiets/what-is-lactose-intolerance

If one knows anything about nutrition, it's that both peanut butter sugar-laden jelly are anything but nutritious!

caption under a pic - 'the secretary of agriculture, having lunch with elementary school children in Leesburg, Va., in May ... has vowed to roll back some of the school-lunch rules established by the Obama administration'

I see in front of him what looks like chicken nuggets and a long rod of mystery processed probably deep fried.

So - he wants less regulation - 'freedom' ! - so the huge junk food corporations are free to inveigle themselves into profiting from feeding high fat/salt/sugar/high fructose corn syrup junk food diets to growing children.

Yeah - that'll help - kill off kids with obesity, early diabetes and rotten teeth from acidic sodas - right.

Push back against that guy would be a good idea.

Here's a solution. Cut the military's base budget (700 billion) by a quarter percent, put the money into getting food to these schools, and feed every child in school. Cut out the animal products. Feed them vegan food---less expensive and more respectful of gustatory preferences religious and secular and environmentally way better and respects all animals and offers many teaching moments---and watch how much better we all are because those kids become more conscientious adults.

I remember my school lunches in the 50's and very early 60's. Lunch was only served in public jr high and high school as all children walked home for lunch in elementary school.

The Junior High food was virtually inedible and not even sanitary (I've never again been able to eat a stuffed green pepper after finding a wad of hair in mine in Jr High). NOTHING was good at that school.

In High School, the ladies were mostly Mennonites and they were fabulous bakers. My HS was famous for it's amazing "made fresh each morning" yellow cloverleaf rolls, hot from the oven. And yes, we slathered them with butter. They also made wonderful pies. The salads and entrees were typical school cafeteria fair - inedible. I always brought homemade soup from home, bought some jello and two cloverleaf rolls and a piece of pie for dessert. I didn't get fat - I didn't weigh 100 lbs until I was about 20 years old.

My grandchildren have never been a fan of their schools' cafeteria food and fix their own lunch each day and take it. Did you notice I said "Fix their own lunches"? Even a kindergarten student is capable of this!

A friend of my daughter's got a call from her child's private school; they were very concerned about his not eating his lunch. The mother said her boy was a good eater at home and asked what they were serving. Quinoa, kale and other things this child had never seen and would not eat. She said "That would be why" and her son started taking his lunch from home.

Oh, the good old days when catsup was a vegetable. Now I notice the Apple validated spelling is ketchup. It seems like only yesterday that I sat pondering that old spelling on a bottle of Heinz.

It is silly to set national standards on salt consumption. Southerners need to consume more salt than northerners alt because it is warmer for a longer portion of the year than in the north. The only people who need to restrict salt intake are those who have kidney failure or uncontrollable high blood pressure, and they need to be on a specialized diet.

It is consistent with modern scientific knowledge to shift to more whole grains and less sugar. It is not wise to reduce dietary fat. The government recommended high carb, low fat recommendations are what resulted in the current obesity and diabetes increases.

Low salt/low fat recommendations are not good science, subject to caloric considerations.

Fat isn't the problem. Sugar, carbs, and packaged crap full of vegetable oils is. Likewise tremendous amounts of plastic wrap and plastic utensils. But whatever, no one is going to win this battle, and school lunches in the U.S. are never going to be uniformly delicious or not mostly thrown away.

My kids will bring sushi for lunch. Maybe with brown rice. It's easy to make, if you have nori, sushi fish, and rice. Couple of handrolls with some seaweed salad and steamed bok choy.

From skimming the comments on this article made from loving parents, teachers, and friends, the consensus seems to be that the Obamas' food initiatives were moving in the right direction. I was very surprised that President Trump will be cutting the Department of Agriculture Budget, which takes major part in food funding and kitchen equipment. If President Trump is so set on making cafeteria food healthier, this cut shouldn't take place. Without proper equipment, healthy food cannot be refrigerated and prepared properly. People have seen positive change in the food being served to children, so we're clearly on the path to success, regardless of how long the path is. No matter what students are eating, what is even more important is the exercise and activity they are participating in at school and at home. A kid can eat a salad for lunch at school, but go directly home and sit, watch tv, and eat an unhealthy snack. Schools should teach students the longterm benefits of eating healthy, instead of slowly showing what looks like "gross" vegetables in the cafeteria every now and then. I would definitely not naturally reach for the broccoli, but knowing how good it is for me is an incentive that I think a lot of people need.

Officials in charge of school lunches should be required to eat school lunches. Then they can experience firsthand what kids do and figure out how to balance taste, nutrition, and cost.

I have a family member who hated fruits and veggies until he moved to my state. I "converted" him by teaching him how to select, prepare, and cook produce. For example, let plums sit at room temp until they are softer and riper; steam broccoli for
5 to 7 minutes at most. FTR, this isn't hard to do or expensive, just requires some thought.

I'd say - scrap school lunches entirely. Parents are responsible for packing their child a brown-bag lunch. This can be done quickly, cheaply, healthily. ( i.e. Tuna salad sandwich on whole wheat, carrot sticks , apple). Children can purchase milk or juice at the cafeteria if they wish. Problem solved.

The message is horrible: that school lunches should have more salt, fat and sugar, lunch should be healthier. But nonfat milk should not be served, only whole milk. Nonfat milk is actually a subsidy to the milk industry who strips,the fat out to sell it in other products, increasing their profits. The milk fat is important for transferring minerals and vitamins in the body and fattier milk actually keeps the body hydrated for longer, as it takes more time for the water to separate from the fat. Of course chocolate nonfat milk is really just soda, as it is laced with high fructose corn syrup and chocolate. It should be offered at all.

This will become one more regressive move, in a long list of such moves, by this administration. I can't wait for this administration's end.

As a middle school teacher, I have seen the changes that occurred in the quality and nutrition of the public school lunches. Before the Obamas' initiatives the students would have pizza and french fries at least twice a week. Other lunches consisted of hamburgers and fruit cocktail from a can, hot dogs and tater tots. Although all hamburgers and pizza are still on the menu, students also get lots of fresh fresh fruit, broccoli, mixed greens salads. There are meatless days also. I have seen my students eating pears, blueberries, cantaloupe, and kiwis. And yes there is still a lot of food thrown in the garbage but no more than before when it was pizza or hotdogs every day. The lunchroom ladies will tell the students, "You do not have any fruit or you forgot the veggies," before they check the children out. The kids are being exposed to foods that they may not get at home and are eating them and enjoying them. Those who say that the Obama school lunch initiative has not been successful have not seen the positive change in the nutrition that is being given to our students. The students are eating as much or more than they ate before these changes and are enjoying their lunches more. Monitoring middle schoolers at lunch is not the best part of teaching but hearing the students discuss the merits of kiwis versus blueberries or whether broccoli was better than cauliflower brightens my day.

Even with the Obama-Era rules in place, school lunches are pretty dismal. What passes for a salad at my son's school is a little raw cauliflower in a cup. (True story.) My son was paying $7 a day for two slices of pizza which is not super healthy so I started making lunches at home. Now that I'm thinking about it, they probably reduced he size of the slice of pizza to limit his caloric intake, but it just means he orders two pizzas instead of one. And still no salad.

I really love the "edible education" idea and also making lunches available to all of the students. Making healthy food is a life skill and should be taught to every child. I would happily pay more in taxes for healthier children who are learning valuable lessons at school... And who are also able to focus on their other lessons because their stomachs are filled with nutritious food. This is an investment, not an expense.

My younger daughter always wanted a packed lunch until we went to France for 6 months. She loved the school lunches. Not only did they taste good but the presentation was really appealing. The children ate with their eyes before they ate with their mouths.

The only creativity I saw out of school cafeterias in the 80s and 90s as a student was figuring out how to pass off the mystery meat as edible.

What fantasy land is Perdue living in that school cafeterias have ever had ambitions of 5 star food?

I was glad you did an article on this topic. I was wondering how the new standards were going. Thank you for a well written enjoyable article.

Maybe we should just let each state or school district pick it's own school lunch menu items. Isn't it kind of ridiculous to basically have a federal Department of School Lunches?

All you have to do is open your eyes a take a long look at fat sedentary kids - yes, politically incorrectly labeled fat sedentary kids. Feed them nasty high fat, high carb food, don't let them outside to work off calories. One wouldn't treat their pet that way, why their kids? Give them nutritious food in smaller portions, get them outside at a supervised recess, and yes, if they turn up their noses, they don't eat - is a life lesson that we are afraid to act on. you eat what yu are given, if not, ok, your choice but don't whine that you are hungry. taker out snack and soda vending machines - they are only there for profit - not for our kids sake.

Surprised that there wasn't more about the huge influence that agri-business has had on school lunch and breakfast policy -- it not only involves incredible marketing and lobbying efforts, but also shaping and writing federal legislation -- and sponsoring the SNA and shaping its activities and policies.

Of course, their influence goes well beyond school meals to shaping the entire government approach to agricultural policy!

What's important is having lunches that kids enjoy and will eat. As a child we had great lunches, all handmade and that included chocolate chip cookies and other "unhealthy" items and we all turned out fine. The real issue here is not the food at school, it's complete lack of activity at home. Kids today spend hours and hours on their phones, alone and in their rooms. That's where the problem lies.

Americans love their kids soooo much that they applaud at the plans to roll back health lunches, so that their kids can eat more fat, more salt, more sugar and have more chances at developing debilitating health issues that will mar the quality of their lives. On the upside, our medical and pharmaceutical industries will have a pipeline of customers for generations to come. Congrats for making america fat a-gain.

I'm always amazed when parents who say that their children are "the most important part of my life!" or "my whole world!" seem to feel that they can't prepare a lunch for their kid because they "don't have time."

Sandwiches can be made the night before. Peanut butter and jelly is inexpensive and delicious. Hard-boiled eggs pack well, as do veggie sticks and ranch (grandkid favorites). Leftover meatloaf makes a great sandwich, and leftover chicken is a great finger food. Cold packs and insulated bags are fine to keep a lunch cool for a few hours, and many things don't really need refrigeration.

Most importantly ... if I'd been raised on school lunches, I would have missed out on all those sweet notes my mom would occasionally slip into my brown bag.

All kids get used to healthy food over time -- IF their parents also feed healthy.

Added exercise at school and we help save their lives.

If a Trumpster has to make a choice between what is good for the nation's children versus what is good for the food services' profit margin, how do you think he'll decide?

One complication with the school lunch rules not mentioned in today's article is that the nutritional standards vary by grade level. This is particularly difficult for smaller schools using the same cafeteria to serve meals for elementary, middle, and high school students. We are seeing some schools foregoing federal reimbursements altogether just to save on the net cost of lunch administration.

No amount of federal government intervention is going to solve our kids obesity problems as long as they grow up eating the crap their parents feed them at home.
We do not have a public health hunger problem in the US. We have a huge obesity problem. Kids and their parents eat too much.
What in heaven's name is wrong with a pbj or tuna salad sandwich and an apple? Maybe some some carrots, celery, radishes.
None of this is rocket science. If the kids don't want to eat it, it means they are not hungry.

The onward path of hurricane Trump destruction. A gentleman the other day said we should name all hurricanes for Trump and number them. I agree.

My girls begged to try the lunches at school and mostly never asked again after they tried them out. They prefer a packed lunch. The menu sounds pretty sad when I read it, too - lots of fried foods and sugar-filled, processed sides.

As for the flavored milk debate, for little kids milk with fat is actually better for them. It's the sugar that's toxic for people of all ages.

Of course he will. He just can't leave anything alone! Especially if it has the Obama's fingerprints on it. Expect the worst from our president....THAT is my default setting.

I thought all schools would be required to eat Trumpa-lunches!!

Let's ask go Alice Waters what she thinks of this particular idea?

70+ years ago when my dad heard about kids bringing a raw potato to school for lunch he organized the community to start a school lunch program. Politically, my dad was conservative but humanely he was pro-kid, He didn't grouse about who to blame, just worried about kids getting fed.

And here I am, still thinking ketchup is a vegetable.

I'm never sure who exactly could be against promoting healthy eating by children, but then I cannot understand how people can cheerfully let their high school sons play contact football either risking their futures for a few years of early glory.

Our school lunches, packed by mom, were mostly PB &J with an apple. A 'treat' was turkey after Thanksgiving, cold blue fish a few times a year (if dad caught some), and occasionally tuna or egg salad. That was it... No one cared about choice or fancy - just food to sustain us through the day. My mom did care about healthy, though, thus the apple and no cookies, chips or other "junk" (her word) - except as a special treat.

As long as public schools like ours continue to provide a bottle of red corn syrup (aka ketchup) in which to drown it all, it doesn't matter if the menu is varied and features wild-caught broccoli, sole-sourced kale, shade-grown salmon, and farm-to-table trays made from recycled textbooks.

I wish that everyone who is complaining, one way or another, did what I did for an entire school year - eat school lunch. Mostly, the food is much better and more varief than what I got as a youth in the 1980s. It also gives perspective that kindergartners aren't able to give (why aren't the kids eating this entree? Because it's flavorless.) and connects staff and students in a way that only breaking bread together can. Beware the school where adults never dine with students, because if the grown ups won't eat the food, why expect kids to do so?

But hey, what do I know. Most grown-up policy makers wouldn't tolerate as working conditions that which they foist on our kiddos.

While there should be some input on a state level that would design menus that respond to local demographics, I feel that without conscientious national oversight many school programs would revert to cutting costs at the expense of building a healthier nation. I remember the chicken nuggets, pink-slime percentages in meat protein and the days when French fries were considered the vegetable component. We should take notes from Finland, Japan and other countries that are able to answer both dietary needs and finicky eaters, and relish the healthier children that will be the result of well balanced nutritious meals.

Does anyone ever wonder why we are feeding kids at school? What ever happened to getting breakfast at home, a brown bag lunch and the school providing milk or some beverage? Old fashion maybe; but my mother made us (four of us) lunch every day to bring to school. My wife made sure our kids had lunch to bring to school after feeding them breakfast before she (and I) hustled off to work. Why is it the governments' responsibility to feed these kids? Where are the parents?

Our local fishing fleet and processors donate fish to the public schools so every student can enjoy a seafood entrée each Wednesday. Wild salmon, rockfish, halibut....

You have to wonder why feeding children is controversial and encouraging healthy food is so hard. Kids can't learn without food in their stomachs and uneducated adults are not as productive. We are a nation with leftover food and surely can find a way that every child gets properly educated and fed. It should not be difficult. I agree the federal government probably over-regulates but it can send down guidelines and money.