Free Republic

(CNSNews.com)-- The School Nutrition Association (SNA), which represents 55,000 school nutritionists nationwide, is pointing to data published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to draw awareness to the fact that “after 30 years of steady growth in the National School Lunch Program, student participation is abruptly down in 49 states."The nutritionists attribute the drop to new nutrition standards that were instituted by USDA in 2012.Total national participation in the School Lunch Program peaked in 2010 and 2011 at 31.8 million, according to USDA. In 2012, it was 31.7 million. But in 2013, it dropped by 1 million participants, to 30.7...

Students boycotting school lunchesPublished: Oct. 6, 2012 at 4:46 PM NEW YORK, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- Many U.S. high school students are protesting new, healthier school lunches, and a professor says it may take a while for students to accept healthier food. The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 required public schools to follow new nutritional guidelines this academic year, providing fruits and vegetables and limiting fat, sodium, and calories, The New York Times reported Friday. "Before, there was no taste and no flavor," said Malik Barrows, a senior at Automotive High School in Brooklyn. "Now there's no taste, no...

Patrick Daggett, 17, is working on his crinkle-cut fries. They are in fact not fried, but baked. The salt has also been reduced. Welcome to the new school lunch at West Springfield High School and schools across the nation – healthier, but not without controversy. “Bland,” said Daggett of his spuds. This fall schools began a three-year process of phasing in new school lunch and breakfast regulations set by the federal government. The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 is designed to get kids to eat more fruits, more vegetables, smaller portions, less salt, fewer calories. “There are very specific...