Wonder Bread

Dream Come True: More White Bread for School Lunch

The plan to “make school lunches great again” is complete. The USDA has announced its final plans to lower the nutrition standards for school cafeterias. That means more sodium, more white bread, and more sugar-sweetened milk will be A-OK with the USDA.

Completely Unsurprising

Anyone who’s surprised by this needs to get out from under their rock more often. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue made it plain from the beginning that he planned to undo the nutrition standards that Michelle Obama advocated for school breakfasts and lunches. He told reporters he’s a big fan of sugar-sweetened chocolate milk, saying:

I wouldn’t be as big as I am today without chocolate milk.

Trump McDonald'sLikewise, President Trump has made it clear that he’s partial to fast food, circulating photos of himself enjoying burgers, fries, KFC, and big taco bowls. School nutrition standards were never going to be a big priority for this administration. Especially since they were a big priority for the Obama team.

Anger Nonetheless

Inevitability didn’t stop health and nutrition advocates from voicing their anger. The American Heart Association said:

We hope all schools reject this regulation and continue their commitment to serve healthier foods on our kids’ plates. Many schools declared they would do just that when these changes were first announced late last year. With nearly 100 percent of the nation’s schools already complying with the school meal standards that were released in 2012, children across the country are clearly benefiting.

USDA’s decision to weaken the standards – despite overwhelming opposition – threatens to reverse our progress toward ensuring our nation’s children receive healthy meals at school that help them attain better long-term health and academic success.

In a more biting assessment, Claire Lampen wrote:

Trump, noted garbage enthusiast, wants kids to be free to eat more garbage.

Are we polarized? Maybe so.

Click here for more from the Washington Post and here for more from the New York Times.

Wonder Bread, photograph © Brent Moore / flickr

Subscribe by email to follow the accumulating evidence and observations that shape our view of health, obesity, and policy.


 

December 9, 2018

4 Responses to “Dream Come True: More White Bread for School Lunch”

  1. December 09, 2018 at 6:45 am, Al Lreis said:

    Where is the outrage?

    Also is there such a thing as “sugar-sweetened milk”?

    I thought milk was “nature’s most perfect food”.

  2. December 09, 2018 at 3:38 pm, Michael said:

    Al, I think i get you… All animal milk is naturally sweet and is perfect – if you’re are a baby of the animal that made it. If you’re a grown-up (of another species), not so much.

  3. December 10, 2018 at 2:11 pm, David Brown said:

    The Obama era school lunch guidelines restricted both calories and saturated fat in an effort to curb childhood obesity. I like this response to that foolish policy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IB7NDUSBOo