THE FIRST LADY’S CALORIES-The New School Lunch Rules Have Become a Rolling Fiasco.
http://online.wsj.com/articles/the-first-ladys-calories-1401405941?tesla=y&mod=hp_opinion&mg=reno64-wsj
One reason American politics is so polarized is the White House tendency to blindslide critics with personal attacks that misrepresent their views. This week’s school lunch drive-by is a classic of the genre, with first lady Michelle Obama and even the White House cook claiming Republicans are in favor of childhood obesity.
In remarks Tuesday, Mrs. Obama denounced what she called “efforts in Congress to roll back” federal nutrition standards for school cafeterias. “It’s unacceptable to me not just as first lady, but as a mother. . . . Our kids deserve so much better than that. They really do,” she said. The first lady followed up with a New York Times op-ed, “The Campaign for Junk Food,” in which she assailed “a bill to override science.”
Meanwhile, Sam Kass, who used to be an executive chef and now runs Mrs. Obama’s Let’s Move program, declared that this anti-science bill would be “absolutely devastating” for child health, adding that “industry interests are definitely at play.” So Republicans aren’t merely wrong, they’re also on the take from the food lobby.
First lady Michelle Obama and Food Network chef Rachel Ray discussing lunches with students from the Eastside and Northside Elementary Schools in Clinton, Miss. in 2013. Associated Press
The GOP apparently provoked this carpet bombing by asking for modest flexibility in the nutrition regulations meant to promote more fruits, vegetables and whole grains and reduce meats and starch. The changes were mandated by a 2010 bill that passed with rare bipartisan support, but their implementation by the first lady and Agriculture Department has become a rolling fiasco.
The rules impose very specific quotas for the type and amount of food served. Cafeterias, for example, must feature five “vegetable subgroups” across “dark green, red/orange, beans/peas (legumes), starchy and ‘other’ vegetables.” Schools have had to eliminate popular menu items such as sandwiches. Two slices of bread over five days exceed the weekly grain limits.
The rules are as poorly devised as they are overly proscriptive, and often the school lunch calorie minimums cannot be satisfied with any combination of the low-calorie Let’s Move-approved foods. Thus an investigation earlier this year by the Government Accountability Office reads like “The Jungle.” The GAO auditors found that some schools were adding “gelatin, ice cream, or condiments such as butter, jelly, ranch dressing or cheese sauce to become compliant.” That “likely increased” the sugar, salt and fat in kid diets.
There are reports of student boycotts and lunch strikes, while other schools have diverted funds from teaching to reconfigure their menus to federal specifications. After the rules had already gone into effect in 2012, the Ag Department itself issued an emergency suspension and again for 2013.
Republicans aren’t even trying to repeal this exercise in cuisine central planning. Their fix would let a school apply for a temporary exemption if the standards force the lunch line to run a deficit after six months.
And by the way, can the first lady at least get her facts right? She asserted that, “As a result of these changes, in many school districts—which is important to note—the number of students participating in the school lunch program has actually increased.” The GAO reports that the National School Lunch Program plunged by 1.2 million students or 3.7% since the new standards were first enforced, the first such decline in 30 years.
If the White House can politicize lunch, no wonder Washington can’t get anything done.
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