Elizabeth Harrington of the Washington Free Beacon explains the Trump administration’s shift away from food rules trumpeted by Michelle Obama.
The Trump administration is allowing kids 300 more milligrams of salt in their school lunches.
In one of his first acts as secretary of agriculture, Sonny Perdue announced his department was moving to “Make School Meals Great Again” by giving schools greater flexibility in complying with former First Lady Michelle Obama’s lunch rules.
Perdue, the former governor of Georgia, announced the changes on Monday during a visit to a Virginia elementary school. Schools can now provide an additional 320 mgs more sodium in school lunches, on average, and the government can now exempt schools from serving only whole-grain products. …
… According to the Hill, “Sodium levels in school lunches now must average less than 1,230 milligrams in elementary schools; 1,360 mg in middle schools; and 1,420 mg in high school.” Under Mrs. Obama, the ceiling was 935 mg of sodium for elementary school, 1,035 mg for middle school, and 1,080 mg for high school.
Kids also can have 1 percent milk and flavored milk instead of the non-fat option mandated under Obama administration standards.
The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act championed by Mrs. Obama was mocked widely on social media, and millions of kids stopped buying school lunch or threw out unappetizing food as a result of the law.
Kids even resorted to creating black markets for salt under the strict rules.