Michelle Obama to Congress: Hands Off of School Lunches

She's not naming any names, but Michelle Obama is taking to the pages of the New York Times today to call out "some members of the House of Representatives" who took the "Let's Move" in her anti-childhood obesity program to mean "Let's Move ... Squarely in the Way" of tougher nutritional standards that the White House is seeking. Obama says she's seeing "glimmers of progress" in the program's "what works" approach, but she's unhappy with efforts to "undo so much of what we’ve accomplished on behalf of our children."

The House is today considering an Ag Department spending bill, and Obama says it will consider making "it optional, not mandatory, for schools to serve fruits and vegetables" in school lunches, along with allowing "more sodium and fewer whole grains." Remember that whole pizza-sauce-is-a-vegetable thing? "You don’t have to be a nutritionist to know that this doesn’t make much sense," she writes, yet "we're seeing the same thing happening again." "As parents, we always put our children’s interests first. Our leaders in Washington should do the same." Click for her full column. (Here's the latest depressing report on global obesity.)