I am all for healthier lunches and getting kids to exercise, but as you mentioned some of the salad dressings containing hydrogenated oil and fixings laden with nitrites deserve a second look. Does Mrs. Obama actually believe that schools are going to use olive oil and vinegar as dressing? Schools are going to go for the cheapest fat laden products they can find.
The problem is, really healthy food does not lend itself to feeding large groups on the cheap. That’s why school food is usually not very good, and not particularly healthy. But it fills them up and it’s generally cost effective (or can be if the program is run properly). Of course, I’m really against the whole idea of a government run program anyway. If a local system wants to have something in place, fine. If a local charity wants to feed poor kids, great. But the federal government should get out of the business of doing any of this.
Does anyone think the kid will EAT the salad? I noticed that most school lunches, ESPECIALLY the “free” or “reduced price” lunches get TOSSED!! Ask any cafeteria monitor!!! Then they just spend their change on chips and junk (or their EBT card)