Proposals to weaken nutritional standards for school lunches and school-provided meal programs in low-income areas.
The proposed changes will reduce the health standards of a collection of programs that serve millions of American children. The changes further reduce fruit serving requirements and allow nutrient-rich vegetables to be replaced for ones with a low-nutrient content and contributing to more sugary, fattier meal options.
Not content with reducing the quality of meals, the proposals also aim to complicate the enrollment process for free or reduced-cost lunches by ending automatic enrollment for families already receiving SNAP benefits. Individuals would then be required to apply individually for school lunch aid – a seemingly trivial hurdle that, nonetheless, will result in children going hungry at no fault of their own.
Status
Jan. 23rd, 2020 PROPOSED
Child Nutrition Program Requirements | Brookings Deregulation Tracker
Notables
- A separate rule change to SNAP benefits, by the administration’s own estimates, will kick 40,000 children off free and reduced cost lunches, while moving 100,000’s from the free meal program to the reduced-cost program.
- The change also ends auto-enrollment for eligible students, now requiring students to apply separately and temporarily kicking nearly a million children off the lunch program.
Food Fight: How 2 Trump Proposals Could Bite Into School Lunch | NPR (2.19.20)
- Announced it would allow more flexibility in amounts and types of fruits and vegetables served for school lunches; also expands options for entrees such as pizza and fries.
Trump Admin Proposes Rollbacks to Obama-Era School Lunch Programs on Michelle Obama’s Birthday | TIME (1.18.20)
- These changes come after several others that reduce the quality of food served to millions of children, including: delaying sodium limits from going into effect, reintroducing flavored low-fat milk and reducing grain requirements.
More pizza, fewer vegetables: Trump administration further undercuts Obama school-lunch rules | Washington Post (1.17.20)
