First lady Michelle Obama on Tuesday said efforts in Congress to scale back school nutrition standards are “unacceptable to me not just as first lady but also as a mother.”
Obama made the comments at a roundtable she held with school food officials from Los Angeles; New York City; Burke County, Ga.; Norfolk, Va.; and Montgomery County, Md. Also attending was Shirly Watkins Bowden, former Agriculture Department Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services and past president of the School Nutrition Association.
"The stakes couldn't be higher on this issue," the first lady said, pointing to obesity statistics in both children and adults. "Now is not the time to roll back everything we have worked for."
The School Nutrition Association and some House Republicans are fighting to change the regulations. The SNA originally supported them as part of the 2010 Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act.
The organization didn’t have a representative at the White House meeting. It said in a statement on Tuesday that the regulations were “overly prescriptive” and that fewer students were eating lunches. A survey by the organization found that in 2012-13, 47 percent of school meal programs said their revenue declined.
The regulations require schools to offer more fruits and vegetables, whole wheat products and low-sodium foods. The guidelines have been phased in over the past two years, with more changes due this year.
Many Republicans in the House of Representatives argue that the school lunch program is too costly and will get more expensive with the new federal guidelines.
Republican Rep. Robert Aderholt of Alabama, the chairman of the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, recently said it’s time “to hit the pause button.” Last week, his panel approved a bill that would let districts get waivers to opt out of the healthier school lunch guidelines if they’re struggling financially to meet them. (More on the story here.)
Obama said she believed that nutrition experts should set standards, not Congress.
"We have to be willing to fight the hard fight now," she said.
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