federal school lunch program

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Consumer Reports: Lunchables Unsafe for School Lunch

14K sign petition calling for their removal from school lunch program

(Newser) - Lunchables contain lead and unhealthy levels of sodium, according to testing by Consumer Reports , which has launched a petition urging the Department of Agriculture to remove the snack kits from the school meal program it oversees. Two versions of the Kraft Heinz kits were made available last year as part...

State's Millionaire Tax to Pay for Free School Lunches

$172M of $1B revenue to be used to feed public school students in Massachusetts

(Newser) - Every public school student in Massachusetts will enjoy free school lunches owing to a new millionaire tax. Passed by voters in November and instituted at the start of this year, the 4% tax on earnings above $1 million will account for $1 billion of the state's $56 billion 2024...

End of Pandemic Aid Leaves Schools Stuck With Meal Tab

Debt is mounting in districts as Congress doesn't act

(Newser) - School lunch debt has long been an issue, but there's a twist now. The federal government began providing breakfast and lunch at no charge to all students to help families during the pandemic, regardless of income. The program ended three months ago, the Washington Post reports, and without those...

2 States to Provide Free Meals in Schools, Regardless of Need

Maine follows California's lead with effort to fight hunger, help learning

(Newser) - Starting in the new school year, California will provide breakfast and lunch to any public school student who wants a meal, free of charge—regardless of family income. The offer also is good for students in county offices of education and charter schools with students in transitional kindergarten to grade...

Trump Administration Puts Biscuits Back on the School Lunch Menu

Refined grains, low-fat chocolate milk are once again OK

(Newser) - The national school lunch program is making room on menus again for noodles, biscuits, tortillas, and other foods made mostly of refined grains. The Trump administration is scaling back contested school lunch standards implemented under the Obama administration including one that required only whole grains be served, the AP reports....

Michelle Obama Slams Trump School Lunch Policy

'Why don't you want our kids to have good food at school?'

(Newser) - Michelle Obama slammed Trump administration efforts to delay or roll back her healthy-eating initiatives Friday, saying parents should "think about why someone is OK with your kids eating crap." The former first lady, speaking at a health conference in Washington, DC, said healthy school lunches should not be...

5 at Fed Watchdog Busted in School Lunch Scam

Literally and allegedly stealing lunch money from less-fortunate students

(Newser) - Five employees of a government agency designed to sniff out fraud and abuse in federal programs were charged yesterday with defrauding and abusing the federal reduced-price school meal program, quite literally stealing lunch money from less-fortunate kids, NBC 4 reports. As the Washington Post reports, the five Government Accountability Office...

School Officials: Kids Just Throw Away Healthy Food

We can't make students eat it, says official

(Newser) - It's not just House Republicans that are fighting Michelle Obama's healthy school lunches. School officials say kids across the country are actually throwing away the healthy food offered to them in place of less-healthy options. In New Mexico, whole-wheat tortillas went into the garbage, while whole-grain biscuits in...

Michelle Obama's School Lunch Rules in GOP Cross Hairs

New bill would let schools opt out of program championed by first lady

(Newser) - No Obama program is safe from House Republicans—even when the Obama in question is Michelle. A GOP agriculture and food spending released yesterday contains a provision that would take a bite out of the first lady's stricter school lunch health standards, the AP reports. With many schools complaining...

Schools: Healthy Lunch Rules Go Too Far

Teens see Michelle Obama as culprit

(Newser) - Schools are struggling to adhere to new government rules on healthy lunches, and school officials are asking Washington to step back. "The regulations are so prescriptive, so it's difficult to manage not only the nutrition side of your businesses but the business side of your business," a...

Schoolkids in Just 3 States Will Get Pink-Slime Lunches

Start licking those lips, Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota...

(Newser) - The nation's school districts are turning up their noses at "pink slime"—well, most of them. The USDA says only three states participating in its National School Lunch Program— Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota—have chosen to order ground beef that may contain the product known as...

Congress Declares Pizza a Vegetable

In school lunches, at least

(Newser) - Thanks to Congress, pizza is still considered a vegetable—at least where school lunches are concerned. Proposed new school lunch standards from the USDA would have limited potatoes in school lunches (think French fries) and stopped counting less than a half-cup of tomato sauce as a vegetable (think pizza), but...

Senate Digs In Over Potatoes in School Lunches

Thwarts Obama's attempts to limit them for childrens' health

(Newser) - The Senate yesterday subtly thwarted an Obama administration proposal to limit the amount of potatoes and other starchy vegetables school children scarf down, inserting an amendment into an Agriculture Department spending bill prohibiting the Department from setting “any maximum limits on the serving of vegetables in school meal programs....

Obama Signs Nutrition Bill Into Law
Obama Signs
Nutrition Bill Into Law
Dec 13, 2010 2:54 PM CST

Obama Signs Nutrition Bill Into Law

Law imposes nutritional requirements, expands school lunches

(Newser) - Thousands more children would eat at school and all school food would become more nutritious under a bill President Obama signed into law today, part of an administration-wide effort to combat childhood obesity. "At a very basic level, this act is about doing what's right for our children,"...

US Hunger Remains at Record High
US Hunger Remains at Record High
Nov 16, 2010 11:49 AM CST

US Hunger Remains at Record High

Roughly 15% of Americans are 'food insecure'

(Newser) - The number of Americans dealing with hunger remained at a record high last year, according to a new USDA report, with 14.7% of US households considered “food insecure.” That’s a hair above the 14.6% that battled hunger in 2008, and the highest level seen in...

Meat Standards at McD's Loftier Than at Schools
Meat Standards at McD's Loftier Than at Schools
investigation
Dec 9, 2009 8:56 AM CST

Meat Standards at McD's Loftier Than at Schools

Virtually any fast-food joint is choosier about what your kid eats

(Newser) - The millions of pounds of beef and chicken doled out by the National School Lunch program every year wouldn’t pass muster at KFC or McDonald's. Though the meat the USDA buys and then supplies to schools beats the bare minimums imposed on grocery store meat, it doesn’t live...

Record 20M US Kids Get Free Lunch

Many are first-timers to state program

(Newser) - It’s good there is such a thing as a free lunch, since more US students than ever need one. Nearly 20 million kids got a free or reduced-price school lunch in February, overwhelming districts that also face rising food costs. Nationwide enrollment in the government-subsidized program was up 6....

USDA Recalls 143M Lbs of Beef
USDA Recalls 143M Lbs of Beef
Feb 17, 2008 3:27 PM CST

USDA Recalls 143M Lbs of Beef

SoCal slaughterhouse involved under investigation for animal cruelty

(Newser) - The USDA today issued its biggest recall ever, recalling 143 million pounds of frozen beef from a slaughterhouse in Southern California that is currently being investigated for animal cruelty. The recall affects meat dating to Feb. 1 that originated in Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. The company distributes beef to major fast-food...

US Scrutinizes Calif. Meat Packer
US Scrutinizes Calif. Meat Packer
Jan 31, 2008 2:54 PM CST

US Scrutinizes Calif. Meat Packer

Video raises questions about safety of school food supply

(Newser) - The US Department of Agriculture is looking into a California meat distributor following the release of a video showing animal abuse at a Chino slaughterhouse, the Los Angeles Times reports. Westland Meat was immediately suspended from its contract to provide beef to federal school lunch programs because of its practice...

19 Stories