School lunch politics

A food fight’s happening in lunchrooms across the country. Cafeteria workers are following federal nutrition guidelines that call for more fruits and vegetables. Some kids complain the nutritious meals aren’t delicious. Schools spend $13 billion a year on food they hope will get kids excited about healthy eating. But when pizza sauce is considered a vegetable, who’s really setting the menu? How can we guarantee the meals being dished out make the grade? 

On this episode of The Stream, we'll speak to:

JoAnne Hammermaster @realfoodforkids
Co-Founder and President of Real Food for Kids
realfoodforkids.org

Julie Gunlock @jgunlock
Director, Culture of Alarmism Project at the Independent Women’s Forum 
iwf.org

Michele Simon @michelersimon
President, Eat Drink Politics
eatdrinkpolitics.com

Jean Ronnei @SchoolLunch
Vice President, School Nutrition Association
traytalk.org

What do you think? Leave your thoughts below. 

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, one-third of all American kids are overweight or obese. With the majority of calories kids intake occurring during school hours, a battle is brewing over what should appear on lunch trays in schools across the country. 

Thirty-two million children participate in the National School Lunch Program and, in 2010, First lady Michelle Obama championed the Healthy, Hunger-free Kids Act which updates nutrition standards for school lunches to align them with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.