USDA Guts Michelle Obama’s School Lunch Program

The Washington Post reports:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has taken another whack at former first lady Michelle Obama’s signature achievement: Establishing stricter nutritional standards for school breakfasts and lunches.  On Friday, USDA Deputy Under Secretary Brandon Lipps announced new proposed rules for the Food and Nutrition Service that would allow schools to cut the amount of vegetables and fruits required at lunch and breakfasts while giving them the ability to sell more pizza, burgers and fries to students.

The agency is responsible for administering nutritional programs that feed nearly 30 million students at 99,000 schools. “Schools and school districts continue to tell us that there is still too much food waste and that more common-sense flexibility is needed to provide students nutritious and appetizing meals. We listened and now we’re getting to work,” Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said.

BTW Trump did this on Michelle Obama's birthday – clearly it's by design bc she was pushing for healthier school lunches: USDA proposes changing school menus to allow more fries and fewer vegetables, reversing a Michelle Obama effort https://t.co/iYswiZftza

— (((DeanObeidallah))) (@DeanObeidallah) January 17, 2020

For lunches, the new rules allow schools to offer potatoes as a vegetable everyday and gives them the flexibility to provide pizza and burgers over more nutritious choices. https://t.co/v4GszcYyhL

— Pervaiz Shallwani (@Pervaizistan) January 17, 2020