Trump Administration To Loosen Obama School Lunch Mandate

Schools do not need to serve whole grains, fat-free milk and low-sodium food anymore, according to the Trump administration. Their justification: kids do not like the food they are being served.

NBC News reported that Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said in a statement, "If kids aren't eating the food, and it's ending up in the trash, they aren't getting any nutrition - thus undermining the intent of the program."

The said program was part of the 2010 Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act signed by former President Barack Obama and promoted by former First Lady Michelle Obama as part of the "Let's Move" initiative. The Trump administration's move rolls back the healthy lunch initiative, which aimed to combat childhood obesity in the United States. The act required schools to offer only fat-free or low-fat milk, cut down sodium, saturated and trans-fat and limit calories based on students' ages.

Perdue, on the other hand, emphasized that the changes were "not undertaken lightly." However, they had to listen to parents, students and food service professionals, who have been complaining about the Obamas' mandate.

Not everyone is too keen about the rollback on school lunches. Margo Woota of the Center for Science in the Public Interest stated that 90 percent of American kids consume too much sodium everyday, and schools have been moving in the right direction following the mandate. "It makes no sense to freeze that progress in its tracks - and allow dangerous high levels of salt in school lunch," she said.

Another rollback in the issue is from the Food and Drug Administration. According to Fox News, the FDA announced that it will postpone the rule for calorie labels on restaurant menus and grocery store displays. The law, which was supposed to be in effect this week, mandated establishments with at least 20 locations and are selling ready-made food to post calorie content of their servings. Supermarkets and other businesses affected opposed to the rules, stating that they have been "burdensome."