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Washington's Overreaching Rules Spoiling School Lunch Reform

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 15, 2007

When Congress launched the school lunch program in 1946, it was a national security issue: One-third of the men rejected for military service during World War II were undernourished.

But more than 60 years later, our children are eating themselves to death, with health officials predicting many of today's overweight children are destined for diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease.

Even in a nutritionally enlightened district - like Hillsborough, where careful attention is paid to creating healthy meals - lunches often feature nachos, corn dogs and other entrees more suited to a fair midway.

You can thank the federal government for this.

That's right. While federal health officials have been scolding Americans for overeating, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has been force feeding kids more calories than most need.

The government standards may have been appropriate at a time when children walked to school and spent their afternoons playing outside. But its old dictates are completely out of whack with reality.

Local school districts need the flexibility to produce high-quality, nutritious meals that fit the lifestyles and health needs of today's children.

The USDA rules require school breakfasts have a minimum average of 554 calories. Elementary school lunches must have a minimum average of 633 calories and the calorie requirements rise to 825 calories for high school lunches. USDA rules - which set no maximum limit on calories - virtually demand schools continue offering high-calorie fare.

Hillsborough County's congressional delegation ought to lead the charge to reform federal requirements. Their home county provides a good example of what happens when good intentions run up against government bureaucracy.

And the calorie counts are just part of the story.
Federal reimbursement rates have only gone up a few pennies per meal in recent years even though the cost of healthful food items, like milk and fresh fruits and vegetables - and the fuel needed to transport them - have soared. Then add the additional costs of running a healthy kitchen, where it takes more employees to peel, chop and cook fresh foods than it does to open a can of processed food.

Mary Kate Harrison, Hillsborough County's school nutrition services director, has diligently worked to transform local lunchrooms and find ways to provide healthy food kids will eat.

The district pulled off a lunchroom hat trick this year - it put a low-fat, whole-grain pizza on the menu that kids love. And childhood favorites such as macaroni and cheese, ravioli and ham and cheese sandwiches are just some of the offerings that contain about 350 calories and under 10 grams of fat per serving.

But even if Harrison wanted to build an entire menu out of these sensible choices, she couldn't without running afoul of USDA regulations.

True, children do need calories to grow, but a 9-year-old girl who sits around watching television after school needs no more than 1,200 calories a day, while an 8-year-old skateboarding demon might need 2,000, researchers at the University of Florida estimate. Too many calories not only makes kids fat, overeating can lead to hyperactive or sluggish behavior.

And therein lay the problem with Washington's calorie dictate. It applies to all children, no matter their lifestyles or the health conditions of their communities. The government has created a program designed to serve its own rules, not the needs of today's children.

Congress and the USDA has a responsibility to make sure school meals give students the nutrition they need to thrive physically and academically. But national leaders also need to make sure Washington isn't subsidizing the super-sizing of our kids.

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