WASHINGTON — Legislation with South Dakota roots has been proposed in Congress to loosen the rules regarding school lunch standards.
U.S. Rep. Kristi Noem, R-S.D., has proposed the Reducing Federal Mandates on School Lunch Act, which is primarily targeted at reducing the sodium and whole grain requirements that school lunch programs have been required to meet.
She told The Daily Republic this week that her bill is directed at allowing for more flexibility for schools to set healthy menu options.
"This is really about giving local schools the most flexibility we can, while still maintaining an effort to have our students eating healthy and nutritious meals," she said. "I think a lot of schools are finding it difficult under the current format."
That bill has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives and would lower some of the requirements mandated by the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, a law championed by First Lady Michelle Obama. Obama stands behind the law, reaffirming recently that to get students acclimated to healthier foods, they must start young. Some of the standards in the 2010 law are set to expire this year.
But national education organizations say this hasn't been a success. NSBA Deputy Associate Executive Director Lucy Gettman said the association surveyed nearly 650 schools last fall in 36 states and found that the national nutrition standards increased costs for 82 percent of districts, decreased participation in more than 75 percent of the schools and increased plate waste in 84 percent of schools. She said at a recent conference, a representative from Oregon said some of the school's waste is being used to feed pigs on a nearby farm.
Prior to this effort, Noem introduced an initial bill in 2013 with similar goals of loosening standards.
The latest version of the bill is targeted towards whole grain requirements and Target 2 sodium levels, which would tighten the amounts of sodium students could receive in a day in 2017-18. Noem wants to see the sodium levels stay at the current standard, Target 1 and loosen the whole-grain requirement from 100 percent whole grain rich to 50 percent, which is where the grain requirement was a few years ago. Schools have said that 100 percent whole grain is a problem when trying to serve pastas, biscuits or tortillas because the supply offered is limited.
Schools have to follow government nutrition standards to receive federal reimbursements for free and reduced price meals for low income students.
Groups like the American Heart Association have said the sodium standards are necessary to prevent more students from developing high blood pressure and putting them at risk for heart disease or stroke.
Noem said milk and cheese products include naturally occurring sodium and more stringent rules aren't realistic for schools. Her bill wouldn't make changes to the calorie count requirements or the amount of fresh fruits and vegetables required to be served to students.
The Republican-controlled Congress has worked on short-term solutions as part of a spending bill passed last year. Noem said the flexibility in the rules is needed because too many schools are experiencing students throwing away food and dealing with more waste.
"We've seen a negative impact since these rules have gone into place and there's less students participating and more food being thrown away," she said.