Federal report identifies numerous problems created by Michelle Obama’s ‘healthy’ school lunch overhaul

By Kyle Olson
EAGnews.org

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A newly released report by the Government Accountability Office finds numerous problems have been created by the National School Lunch Program overhaul pushed by First Lady Michelle Obama.

Those problems have been magnified in recent weeks, as several school districts across the nation have either dropped out of the voluntary federal lunch program or have increased prices of school lunches to make up for a drop in sales attributed to federal menu changes.

The report, presented to a subcommittee of the House Education and Workforce Committee, detailed visits to eight school districts by GAO bureaucrats to see the impact of the regulations.

“Although the eight districts GAO visited expressed support for the improvements to the nutritional quality of school lunch, they reported additional challenges meeting the new requirements, such as student acceptance, food waste, costs, and participation,” the report states.

The report notes the absurd conflicts and inconsistencies created by the changes. For example, cheeseburgers were removed from one district’s elementary and middle school lunch menus because adding cheese to the burger “would have made it difficult to stay within the weekly meat maximums.” Another district switched from shredded cheese to cheese sauce because the liquid cheese “does not count as a meat alternate.”

Cheese is cheese, unless you’re writing government regulations, apparently.

Similarly, another school district switched from whole grain chips to potato chips because “the potato chip did not count as a grain.”

The report also found schools didn’t necessarily increase healthy options for students.

“To comply with both the meat and grain maximums and the required calorie minimums for lunches, some districts added foods that generally did not improve the nutritional value of the lunches.

“In three of the districts we visited, the [School Food Authorities] reported adding pudding to certain high school menus to bring the menus into compliance with the calorie minimum. Some SFAs also added gelatin, ice cream, or condiments such as butter, jelly, ranch dressing or cheese sauce to become complaint. … While these additional menu items provided needed calories to lunches, they also likely increased the amount of sugar, sodium, or fat in the meal, potentially undercutting the federal law’s goal of improving the nutritional quality of lunches.”

Some districts tried to keep their students’ taste buds happy by offering them a shadow of their previous helpings.

One district wanted to continue offering cheeseburgers and in order to operate within the regulations, it created a 1.5 ounce burger patty – “which is less than half the size of a ¼ pound burger,” the report notes.

Is it any wonder students are left hungry?

School districts noted the difficulty in complying with the calorie maximums for students based on grade, as students from varying grades use the same cafeteria lines. They fear the rigid rules will lead to “increased costs and administrative burden.”

Another problem created by the regulations is food waste.

“Food waste is also an indicator of lack of student acceptance of the new lunch requirements,” the report states.

Six of the eight schools “we visited told us they believe food waste has increased because of the new lunch requirements. In particular, (school officials) said that the fruits and vegetables students are now required to take sometimes end up thrown away, and in our lunch period observations in 7 of 7 schools, we saw many students throw some or all of their fruits and vegetables away,” the study finds.

The GAO report found the changes were leaving some students hungry.

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numerous problems

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Numerous in, say, 10? Top ten, maybe . . . ? Hey, that could be a funny bit for a late night comedian!

Hey, wait a minute. Doesn't David Letterdweeb have a bit he calls the "top ten list?" Wow - THIS would be clever fodder for that list!

Nah, somehow, since it doesn't involve Sarah Palin's 14 year old daughter, Bush, or conservatives, I won't hold my breath waiting for him to use it.

Michelle Obama thinks of herself as a queen and not a first lady. She was not elected to make these changes in our school menu but took it upon herself to create this situation. I hope the entire program backfires on her fat butt.

Quote: kazy wrote in post #5

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This is Crazy! Why not just say nothing with HFCS, no Soda Pop, etc.....

Calorie Maximum by Grade? What happened to height, activity level and other factors that contribute to nutritional needs of the individual?

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