Area School Districts Adjust To Scaled-Back Lunch Standards

The Trump administration is rolling back contested school lunch standards. The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act was passed under the Obama administration, creating strict guidelines to make meals healthier for students. When the measure was signed into law in 2010, it was applauded by educators and health advocates. 

The new guidelines mean only half of the grains served need to be whole grain. Low-fat chocolate milk can be back on the menu, and the future caps on sodium targets are no longer in place.

Jim Faggioni with Guilford County Schools says this new decision won't change much. He says the district has already been meeting many of the benchmarks and is sticking with them.

“We as a district made a conscious decision that we were not going to, there was no reason for us to do that," says Faggioni. "We had already implemented these changes, our students had become accustomed to these changes, so to roll anything back really wouldn't be in the best interest of the children, or the district, or the community.”  

The School Nutrition Association, which represents local cafeteria operators and companies like Domino's Pizza, Kellogg Co. and PepsiCo, had called for relaxing the whole grain-only requirement, saying it was too difficult for districts to meet. Some schools say they also saw a drop in participation.

For the current school year, the USDA said 20 percent of schools were applying for exemptions to the whole-grain rule. Pasta, tortillas, biscuits and grits were the most commonly requested items for exemption, according to the agency.

Winston-Salem/Forsyth Schools Nutrition Director Lauren Richards says it created more food waste because kids weren't always eating the healthier choices.

“Regulations are great and there's something to be said about standardization and the overall effort to make all of these meals healthier for students, but sometimes there are different requirements and different regulations that almost hinder the program, and so I think this is definitely one of those that we've been waiting for a long time.”

The USDA school lunch program provides low-cost or free lunches in public schools and other institutions. Last year, it served an estimated 30 million children.

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