Editorial: Big Food spoiling school lunches
Publisher’s note: This editorial is from the June 7, 2014, Sacramento Bee.
School lunches shouldn’t be a partisan political issue, but congressional efforts to keep kids hooked on pizza and tater tots have turned them into exactly that.
It’s a shame, given all the hard work that has gone into fighting childhood obesity and Type 2 diabetes in this country. And it’s heartless, given the lifelong health risks that beset the one out of three American teenagers and children who are overweight or obese.
Just four years ago, Congress wisely passed a law requiring stronger federal school-lunch standards – leaner proteins, lower-fat dairy, and more fruits, vegetables and whole grains.
The standards weren’t handed down from on high by food Nazis; they were based on recommendations from the Institute of Medicine and imposed by the Department of Agriculture. They made sense.