Kids Shun Michelle Obama’s School Lunches.   During the  school year, lunch participation was down nationwide.  The thing that is not underst00d – would you take information from a person who is in no shape or form qualified to be pressing all of these points on nutrition – a former lawyer telling people what to eat? Instead of nutrition why wasn’t her project discipline or following the ten commandments since that is the problem areas?  Teach manners and respect for the teachers and for each other in the classroom – with examples on how to achieve this?  Or teaching history or the Pledge of Alligance?

U.S. Department of Agriculture figures indicate that after 30 years of steady growth in the National School Lunch Program, student participation is down all across the country.

And the School Nutrition Association (SNA), which represents 55,000 school nutritionists nationwide, attributes the drop to the new nutrition standards championed by first lady Michelle Obama and instituted by the USDA in 2012.

Participation peaked in 2010 and 2011 at 31.8 million students, but in 2013 it dropped to 30.7 million and in 2014 it decreased again to 30.4 million, according to the USDA. That means it has dropped by 1.4 million students since its peak.

In fact, participation in 2014 was down in every state except Delaware, Florida, and North Dakota compared to 2011, according to USDA data released on June 5.

“More than one million fewer students choose school lunch each day, thwarting the goal of promoting healthier diets for all students,” the SNA said. “School lunch revenue is down and food waste is up.”

The new standards require school lunches to contain more whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, ban whole milk, and reduce the number of calories in a meal.

Many students find the new lunches unpalatable and toss items in the trash. The SNA points to a study showing that the mandate to serve a fruit or vegetable with each meal results in about $3.8 million worth of produce being thrown in the trash each day.

Another study, this one by the Harvard School of Public Health, revealed that “students discarded roughly 60 to 75 percent of the vegetables and 40 percent of the fruits on their tray.”

Students displeased by the new school lunch requirements touted by Michelle Obama have been posting photos on Twitter at #ThanksMichelleObama, CNS News reported. One recent comment with a photo: “We get to eat this and it tastes like dirt.”

Lynn Harvey, an SNA member, testified before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce that the requirement that all grain-based items must be made with 100 percent whole grains has “created products that are dense, compact, dry and crumbly instead of light, moist, tender and flakey.”

The SNA said in a release: “USDA’s national and state level participation data highlight the challenges school meal programs have faced under the new regulations.”

Reports have circulated that some students have been dealing with those challenges by bringing, and even selling, salt, pepper and sugar to make school lunches taste better.

kommonsentsjane