THE STORY BEHIND THE SCHOOL LUNCH FIGHT

First lady Michelle Obama and the School Nutrition Association used to be on the same team, but now they’re locked in a political war against each other. The group helped lobby for the 2010 Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act, a law the first lady championed that mandates more fruits and vegetables, whole grains and less sodium in exchange for more federal funding on meals. But today SNA is pushing for waivers from the requirements for schools that are losing money and aiming to relax the standards when the law is reauthorized next year. The story behind the school lunch flip-flop is a complicated web of lobbying change-ups, industry influence, and partisan posturing. It also casts a spotlight on how difficult it is to make the economics of school meals work and just how much resistance there can be to Washington directing nationwide change.

 

Source: Politico, 6/4/14, School Lunch Fight