Coalition Challenging “Illegal” Revisions to Nutritional Requirements for School Breakfasts and Lunches
Weakened Standards Impact Over 1.6 Million New York Schoolchildren
Attorney General Letitia James, leading a multistate coalition, today announced a lawsuit against the Trump Administration for illegally weakening key federal nutritional standards for breakfasts and lunches served to nearly 30 million schoolchildren in the United States. The coalition contends that the Trump Administration’s Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) rollback of sodium limits and whole grain requirements for school meals lacks legally-mandated scientific basis, and, in further violation of law, was adopted without public notice and opportunity to comment.
“Over a million children in New York – especially those in low-income communities and communities of color – depend on the meals served daily by their schools to be healthy, nutritious, and prepare them for learning,” said Attorney General Letitia James. “The Trump Administration has undermined key health benefits for our children – standards for salt and whole grains in school meals – with deliberate disregard for science, expert opinion, and the law. My office will use every tool at our disposal to fight back against these shameful rollbacks and ensure our children our protected.”
Established in 1946, the National School Lunch Program is a federally subsidized program that provides students with healthy, balanced meals in schools at low- or no-cost. Since that time, Congress has taken action to ensure that program’s nutritional guidelines keep current with the best scientific evidence with the most recent modernization occurring in 2010 with the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act.
In 2018, nearly 30 million children consumed nearly five billion school lunches, and more than 14 million children ate school breakfasts under the national school lunch and breakfast programs with over 1.6 million children participating in New York alone. School meal programs are especially important for children in low-income families; in 2018, more than 74 percent of school lunches and 85 percent of school breakfasts provided to schoolchildren in the United States were offered free or at a reduced price. Further, according to USDA’s own figures, a disproportionately high share of students participating in the national school lunch and breakfast programs are black or Hispanic.
In 1994, Congress acted to require school meals to be consistent with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (Dietary Guidelines), nutritional and dietary information, and guidelines for the general public that are jointly issued by USDA and the Department of Health and Human Services. In 2010, Congress directed USDA to update the nutritional requirements based on a 2009 study by the Food and Nutrition Board, which is part of the National Academy of Sciences.
The Food and Nutrition Board study found that the daily sodium intake for schoolchildren “clearly was excessive,” and at levels significantly above the Dietary Guidelines. The study cited scientific evidence showing a relationship between sodium intake and blood pressure in children as well, and that “high blood pressure responds to a reduction in salt intake in children as in adults.” Consequently, the Food and Nutrition Board Study recommended sodium limits for school meals based on the Dietary Guidelines.
The study also found “extremely low” consumption of whole grains by schoolchildren. USDA has recognized that whole grains are an important source of iron, magnesium, selenium, B vitamins, and dietary fiber, and that eating whole grains in nutrient dense forms may lower body weight and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. The study recommended that grain products served in schools be “whole grain-rich”—i.e., contain at least 51% whole grains—as recommended by the Dietary Guidelines.
In 2010, Congress enacted the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which directed USDA to issue revised nutritional standards for school lunches and breakfasts. After public notice and extensive comment on the proposed rule – over 133,000 public comments were considered – USDA in 2012 issued new, updated nutritional standards for school meals. These updates included, for the first time, interim and final limits for sodium, as well as a requirement increasing the whole grains in school meals. In accordance with federal law, the standards set for sodium and whole grain were consistent with the Dietary Guidelines and the recommendations of the Food and Nutrition Board study.
Most schools across the nation have now met the first sodium reduction target of the 2012 regulation. Further, the majority of schools are now meeting the regulation’s standard by serving bread, pancakes, pasta, and other foods to students that are entirely whole-grain rich.
Despite this substantial progress, in 2018, the Trump Administration’s USDA issued a rule that dismantled key nutrition standards set by the 2012 Rule, eliminating the final maximum sodium target, delaying by five years the second intermediate maximum sodium target that had been set for the 2019-2020 school year, and cutting in half the whole grains requirement. In issuing the rule, the Trump USDA failed to explain how the changes to the sodium and whole grain nutrition standards for school meals were, as required by law, “consistent with the goals of the latest Dietary Guidelines for Americans” and “based on” the Food and Nutrition Board study’s recommendations. Further, the 2018 rule was neither issued as a proposed rule nor was the public provided an opportunity to comment on it.
Joining Attorney General James in today’s lawsuit, are the Attorneys General of California, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Minnesota, New Mexico, and Vermont.
The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.
No comments:
Post a Comment