Winning in school meals
The produce industry invested so much time and energy into school meals standards, it rightly breathed a sigh of relief that the Trump administration kept them as it gave schools flexibility on sodium, whole grains and low-fat milk.
It’s easy to be on the side of good nutrition, but the “other side” had legitimate points about school meals being so healthy they lost flavor and interest from students.
As much as we may want to blame whining kids who threw away their vegetables, a whole nation of American adults also generally eat what they like not what is always good for them.
New U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue came across as reasonable and sympathetic to the produce industry, while upholding a standard conservative value of giving more political power to the local level.
While the increased requirements for fruits and vegetables in school meals had a rocky start, they have generally been accepted and have led to more kids eating fruits and vegetables and less waste.
This effort was a good one to undertake, as it gives kids healthier food options, and it sets an optimistic baseline for a lifetime of fruits and vegetables being part of a healthy diet and lifestyle.
This makes the second presidential administration in a row to agree.
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