President Trump has crushed rules championed by former first lady Michelle Obama aimed at making U.S. school lunches healthier, a move that will affect institutions that feed 30 million children annually.
The Obama administration set rules that sought to make school lunches more healthful with exclusively whole-grain pastas and breads, and with nonfat white milk and less salt.
It was reacting to an epidemic of obesity in the United States as well as evidence that excessive salt intake is linked to high blood pressure and other health concerns, and that whole grains are more healthful than refined grains.
Last year, the Trump administration temporarily eased those rules, and the Agriculture Department is moving to make those changes permanent.
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said schools under the current rules faced challenges serving meals that were both appetizing and nutritious.
‘If kids are not eating what is being served, they are not benefiting, and food is being wasted,’ Perdue said in a statement.
Not everyone welcomed the relaxed rules.
The American Heart Association encouraged schools to ‘stay the course’ and commit to meeting the stricter standards that started going into effect in 2012.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest also said the decision to roll back the whole-grain requirement makes no sense because most schools were already in compliance.
Those still struggling to meet the standard would have eventually been able to comply as well, said Colin Schwartz, the center’s deputy director of legislative affairs.
The 2010 Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act was championed by Michelle Obama and became a rallying cry for her critics after it set school lunch maximums for calories, cut sodium and artery-clogging trans fat, and required more fruits, vegetables and whole grains.
While Obama’s initiative was largely panned by schoolchildren, some studies did show that they were eating healthier compared to when they were bringing lunches from home, according to The Washington Post.
Trump, meanwhile, is known as a man who doesn’t partake in good nutrition.
Trump is notoriously a lover of fast food – drinking multiple cans of diet Coke a day and taking in McDonald’s and KFC regularly.
The Trump administration has vowed to slash regulations, which it says are burdensome for industries such as oil and coal, and has already rolled back a number of Obama-era rules as part of its business-friendly agenda.