Trump’s administration announced on Friday that it planned to roll back school breakfast and lunch nutrition guidelines, an initiative that was created by #foreverfirstlady Michelle Obama, and the announcement just so happened to fall on Michelle’s 56th birthday.
According to Slate, the change in guidelines proposed by the Agriculture Department would give schools more freedom to cut the number of fruits and vegetables they serve at breakfast and lunch while also opening the door to more burgers, pizza, and french fries.
The food industry lobby had long been campaigning for the change, which was immediately decried by nutritionists, who said it would allow schools to once again serve fattening “junk” foods as “snacks.”
A Department of Agriculture spokeswoman said it was not their intention to roll out the proposed change on Obama’s birthday, “although some Democratic aides on Capitol Hill had their doubts.”
The Agriculture Department said in a statement, “The proposed new rules will give schools more flexibility to determine standards “because they know their children best.”
Critics argue that if implemented, these proposed new rules “would create a huge loophole in school nutrition guidelines, paving the way for children to choose pizza, burgers, french fries and other foods high in calories, saturated fat or sodium in place of balanced school meals every day.”
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said that the proposed changes have to do with schools saying, “there is still too much food waste and that more common-sense flexibility is needed to provide students nutritious and appetizing meals.”
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