Praise for the new federal school lunch rules

by David Safier

Mark Bittman is the main food guy at the NY Times. He's for sensible good eating. He has a blog post today saying, while the new school lunch rules aren't ideal, they're an important step toward offering students better nutrition. Here are a few key statements.

Thirty-two million kids — 10 percent of the American population, and the future of the country —  are about to start eating better. That’s the bottom line of the new Department of Agriculture (U.S.D.A.) guidelines for government-subsidized school meals, announced last week.

[snip]

The guidelines are imperfect (what isn’t?) but worth celebrating: this is the single most significant improvement the Obama administration has made in the realm of food. The rules will double the amount of fruits and vegetables served in schools, set limits on damaging trans fats and salt, increase the amount of whole grains served, make low-fat milk the norm and establish suitable ranges for daily caloric intake.

And, incredibly, the U.S.D.A. moves will cost less than half of the agency’s original proposal. Even more stunning is that it’s doing this by scaling back on meat — abandoning requirements that schools serve meat or “meat alternatives” at breakfast. That is perhaps most commendable; teaching kids that nutritious meals don’t necessarily center on “protein” is one of the most important steps we can take in creating a sane diet for generations to come.

[snip]

. . .a Republican administration likely would have moved school lunches even more in the direction they were headed: inferior versions of bad fast food.

[snip]

The fact that industry lobbyists are griping demonstrates that; compromise, by its nature, can leave everyone dissatisfied. But after taking a beating for generations, advocates of good food should see the new guidelines as a real victory.

For the record, Child Food Nutritionist Sen. Rich Crandall is siding with the "inferior versions of bad fast food" crowd in his arguments advocating for his federal free/reduced meals optional bill.