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Vilsack: School nutrition discussion will continue

 

By MATTHEW D. ERNST
Missouri Correspondent

WASHINGTON, D.C. — School lunch became a political lightning rod after the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 revamped public school meal standards. Last week, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said he expects the school lunch discussion to continue, as Congress must reauthorize the law by Sept. 30.
He enlisted leaders from the American Medical Assoc., American Academy of Pediatrics and American Heart Assoc. (AHA) to advocate for the USDA’s current standards. “Now is not the time to take a step back,” said Vilsack, who stated his concern that Congressional legislation to be introduced would keep school lunches from meeting the present requirements.
Standards for sodium and whole grains are flashpoints in the debate. Sens. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) and Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) announced earlier this month plans to introduce the Healthy School Meals Flexibility Act. This would allow schools to keep whole grains in 50 percent of school meals, rather than the 100 percent required by USDA last July. The bill calls for sodium standards to stay the same as last July’s levels.
Legislation with the same whole grain and sodium language is to be sponsored in the House by Rep. Kristi Noem (R-S.D.). “As a mom, I want to make sure the school meal program my kids participate in is rooted in science-based nutrition plans and includes food that they’re actually going to eat,” she said. “After all, my kids don’t get the nutrients if it’s left on the plate.” She and other critics of the school lunch standard changes cited increases in school food waste after USDA rules took effect.
Keeping the current sodium standard and the 50 percent whole grain standard is a mistake, said Eduardo Sanchez, chief medical officer for Prevention, AHA. “The research is clear that the amount of sodium in school foods needs to be decreased,” he said.
Decreasing childhood obesity, improving the nation’s heart health and keeping youth fit enough for military service are all among the issues cited by supporters of the USDA standards.
Some in Congress, mostly Republicans, seized on the school lunch standards as examples of government regulatory overreach into local decision centers. The School Nutrition Assoc., a national nonprofit representing 55,000 school lunch professionals, supports the Hoeven/Pryor bill in the Senate.
“Congress must act to provide school meal programs the necessary funding and flexibility to prepare meals that will bring students back to the cafeteria,” said Julia Bauscher, SNA president.
Last week, Vilsack appeared to dispute that argument. He acknowledged the need for more “technical assistance” to help schools transition to new standards, but said they have underutilized the funding USDA has made available. As to the USDA standards being too rigid for the real world, “flexibility has already been provided,” said Vilsack, who called regulatory waivers like those proposed in Congress “a significant step back.”
Farm groups walk fine line

The school lunch debate presents somewhat of a policy quandary for farm and food lobbyists. Opposing the standards could present an appearance of being insensitive or unsupportive of children’s health issues. But business groups, including farm groups, often oppose added government regulations.
The produce industry supports the required one-half cup of fruits and vegetables per school meal. But, according to the SNA, this requirement has increased school food waste. “SNA supports offering a greater variety and quantity of fruits and vegetables,” reads the foodservice group’s 2015 policy on school feeding programs.
United Fresh, the produce industry group, disagrees. It has helped equip schools with salad bars through the “Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools” initiative. More than half of schools equipped with new salad bars saw increased participation in school lunches, according to a 2014 survey.
Researchers have shown a healthy appetite for study into impacts of school lunch policy changes since the school lunch legislation took effect in 2012. Economic research at Washington State University and Clemson University indicates the school lunch changes should positively impact students’ body mass index, or BMI.
The USDA, as well as researchers at the University of Florida, is also touting the impact school lunch programs can have on children’s eating habits. Allowing kids to sample new menu items, and provide feedback into which ones should be long-term additions to school menus, is one strategy that works, according to the Florida research.
Another strategy that could work: Bribery. A well-known 2011 study, by university researchers at Cornell and Brigham Young University, concluded schools could offer small payments to kids to eat their fruits and vegetables – payments less than the produce waste being generated.
“As a result, a small-rewards program can increase the cost effectiveness of money that schools are already spending on fruits and vegetables by increasing the fraction of those items that actually get consumed,” said David Just and Joseph Price. The research did not conclude whether long-term consumption impacts of fruit and vegetables would result.
3/26/2015