WASHINGTON -- The House Appropriations Committee on Thursday passed an agriculture budget bill that includes nearly $21 billion for child nutrition that would allow schools to opt out of White House nutritional guidelines passed in 2012.
The vote was 31-18.
President Barack Obama's administration, hoping to combat rising childhood obesity, announced new rules in 2012 that added more fruits and green vegetables to school breakfasts and lunches and reduced the amount of salt and fat that children consume at schools.
About 32 million children participate in school meal programs each day.
Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Ala., chairman of the committee's Agriculture Subcommittee, said Thursday that the provision would give schools 12 months to help them comply with the rules.
"Everyone supports healthy meals for children," Aderholt said. "But the bottom line is that schools are finding it's too much, too quick."
But Rep. Sam Farr, ranking Democrat on the subcommittee, called the waiver a poison that would undermine congressional efforts to provide children with nutritious foods.
Farr sponsored an amendment that would have removed the waiver from the budget bill, but it was defeated 29-22 after nearly two hours of debate.
"This waiver gives schools an out, saying you don't have to do healthy school meals if it's hard," Farr said.
It was unclear when the House would take up the bill or when the Senate would act.
Under the legislation passed Thursday, the Agriculture Department would also be required to establish a waiver process for local school districts that have found it too expensive to comply with the tougher nutrition standards.
The School Nutrition Association, a group composed of school nutritionists, praised the legislation. The group said the cost of the new rules has led to a decrease in the number of schools participating in the federal meals programs. The group said the rules have also led to tons of wasted food because children are not eating the healthier alternatives.
"We are all working to encourage students to make nutritious choices, but in many school cafeterias, these regulations are hindering those efforts," said Leah Schmidt, president of the association. "School meal programs need more flexibility to plan healthy menus that appeal to students."
The Obama administration and many nutritionists say the legislation would roll back efforts to reduce the number of obese children, who are at risk of developing high cholesterol and high blood pressure.
The new rules are a major component of Michelle Obama's Let's Move! campaign to reduce the number of overweight children through exercise and better nutrition. The first lady wrote an op-ed article in The New York Times on Thursday about "attempts in Congress to undo so much of what we've accomplished on behalf of our children."
Tom Vilsack, the agriculture secretary, said in a conference call with reporters Wednesday that the administration has added additional money in the form of grants to schools to help them purchase healthier foods. He said that claims that the nutrition rules had led to a decline in schools participating in lunch and breakfast programs were misleading and that the rules had no effect on food waste, which has been an issue since 2007, before the nutrition standards were in place.
Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy at the Washington-based Center for Science in the Public Interest, said the legislation is an attempt to gut school lunch and snack standards.
"We need to help schools that may struggle to implement the rules, not roll back standards," she said. "Just because math and science programs in schools are hard, you don't throw out the courses."
The rules were the first changes in 15 years to the $11 billion school lunch program.
A Section on 05/30/2014