South Dakota Representative Kristi Noem has promised to continue fighting to ease regulations limiting the amount of meat and grain in school lunches – according to The Hill. The first USDA rule was set in January 2012 – creating a weekly range of 10 to 12-ounces of meat and grains for high school students. At the end of 2012 – USDA allowed schools to serve unlimited meat and grain so the schools could have more time to adjust to the rule. This year – USDA extended that even further for the current school year – but Noem proposed legislation to make that extension permanent in December. Noem says the law says schools can only serve an average of 2-ounces of meat per meal – which is just three chicken nuggets for a high school student. Another part of the law requires students to include fruits and vegetables in their school lunch – which has increased costs and waste as students dumped the food they didn’t want in the trash. To fix that issue – USDA established a rule in June to require schools to offer meat, grains, fruit, vegetables and milk at lunch – but just requiring students to be served three of the five. Noem says government officials shouldn’t dictate what kids eat – and this is an issue she promises will remain a priority of hers over the next year.
Source: NAFB News Service