Via EAG News:

Another school district is contemplating dropping out of Michelle Obama’s national school lunch program because fewer students are buying the “healthier” lunches.

The North Penn school district’s nutrition services estimates it lost nearly a quarter-million dollars of its $6 million budget last school year because the “healthy” federal lunch standards cost significantly more to prepare, and fewer students are buying them, the Montgomery News reports.

North Penn nutrition services coordinator Pam Gallagher told the news site she plans to present the school board with two possible solutions: drop out of the national lunch program, or make other cuts.

The latter option would still likely result in an operating loss, she told the News.

“We have to be able to keep our program viable, pay benefits and decent salaries, make sure our employees have the equipment they need, so (opting out of the federal lunch program is) something we have to have an open mind about,” Gallagher told the news site. “I’m not necessarily for it or against it, but it’s the nature of the beast.”

The district recently upped the cost of student lunches and breakfasts but it’s not clear if it will be enough to make up for the loss. The problem, Gallagher said, is mostly at the high school, where the food program is taking in $5,200 a day. She said that revenue needs to increase by $2,000, the News reports.

Keep reading…http://weaselzippers.us/2013/11/04/penns...-food-dictates/