This Is What Happens When the Federal Government Plays National Lunch Lady

I’d like to state up front that I fully support First Lady
Michelle Obama’s assertion that school cafeterias should be serving
less refined carbohydrates and more fruits and vegetables. I’d just
like to leave it up to individual states, cities, or school
districts to work out the specifics. When you have the federal
government dictating the precise percentage of whole grain flour
that must be used in school cafeteria carbs, you wind up with the
ridiculous, time-wasting “food fight”* that’s been taking
place in the U.S. House this week. 

To sum up the silliness (which I blogged about in more detail
here):
New rules for school lunch programs that take federal funding
require cafeterias to offer more whole grains, more fruits and
vegetables, and less sodium-heavy options. A provision tacked onto
the agriculture appropriations bill by House Republicans would
allow schools having trouble meeting these requirements to seek a
temporary one-year waiver. That’s it.

The House Appropriations Committee passed the budget bill,
including the school nutrition program waiver, on Thursday, by a
vote of 31 to 18. “Everyone supports healthy meals for children,”
Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.), chairman of the House appropriations
agriculture subcommittee, told
The New York Times. “The bottom line is that schools are
finding it’s too much, too quick.”

The response from Mrs. Obama and her supporters has been
unequivocal. On Tuesday, the first lady called the waiver
“unacceptable” and an example of Republicans “playing politics”
with kids’ health. Rep. Sam Farr (D-Calif.) called the waiver a
“poison pill.”

It all smacks of unbelievable arrogance. It’s one thing for
Michelle Obama to promote more nutritious cafeteria fare, help
develop best practices that schools could follow, and work closely
with school districts to implement these practices. Those are all
incredibly worthwhile projects.

But setting highly specific and ironclad rules for schools
across the country crosses the line. Why should D.C. dietitians,
politicians, and bureaucrats know better than lunch program
administrators themselves what’s feasible in their school
districts, and in what time frame? Congressional leaders are now
wasting time and energy fighting over things that would really be
best hashed out on a local level. We just don’t need the
centralized planning of our cafeteria trays. 

* Seemingly one out of every two journalists covering this issue
can’t resist using that pun in headlines.