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House panel demands study on Obama school lunch rules
House Education and Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline (R-Minn.) is asking government investigators to study the controversial school lunch rules implemented this fall by the Obama administration.
The rules set calorie limits on school lunches and promote nutritious foods as part of the 2010 Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act. The Obama administration backed the requirements as part of its fight against childhood obesity.
"State and local officials, parents and students have raised concerns about a number of these changes," Kline wrote Wednesday to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), "specifically the adequacy of the calorie maximum, the cost of the new requirements, and increased food waste in school cafeterias."
The lawmakers asked the GAO to report back on the cost of the new rules and whether they have prompted students to drop out of school meal programs, among other concerns.
Several Republican House members slammed the rules as evidence of a "nanny-state" approach to reducing U.S. obesity. Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), a member of the House Agriculture Committee, introduced a bill to repeal them in September.
But the Obama administration argues that the rules are necessary to avert a public health crisis.
"We are going full steam ahead to making sure that the school day is healthier," Agriculture Undersecretary for Food Kevin Concannon told reporters in August. "These are the first major changes to school meals in 15 years. They are much-needed and long overdue."
First lady Michelle Obama was another major advocate for the policy, arguing that kids should get "the same kind of food we would serve at our own kitchen tables" at school.
