The Trump administration will spend roughly $90 million on school cafeteria equipment to improve nutrition quality for students as part of the Make America Healthy Again agenda during the back-to-school season.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that the Agriculture Department would spend $70 million on upgrades to school cafeterias, cold storage spaces, stoves, and other equipment to make fresh meals for students.
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“We are further investing in school infrastructure,” Rollins said at the Harvest-to-Hallways Rally on Monday. “A lot of you have heard that many of our school cafeterias no longer have ovens. They no longer actually cook the food.”
Rollins said the new investment would be in addition to $20 million that the administration launched with a pilot program this year, bringing the total to $90 million.
“As the mom of four, I know I speak for all of us when I say that nothing is more important than the health and well-being of our children,” she said at the rally, noting that her children have recently started school for the year.
The new initiative is part of the broader MAHA agenda, emphasizing the role of proper nutrition in preventing chronic diseases such as obesity, heart disease, and diabetes.
Obesity affects 1 in 5 children in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Having obesity as a child has been shown to nearly double the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes in adulthood, and roughly half of obese children risk developing heart disease later in life.
Rollins also announced $25 million to help school districts focus on locally sourced fruits, vegetables, and proteins for children’s lunches.
The new revamp to school cafeterias is based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, released this year by USDA and HHS, which sets regulations for federally funded food programs such as school breakfasts and lunches.
The National School Lunch Program serves approximately 30 million students, and the School Breakfast Program serves roughly 15 million students across 94,000 schools nationwide. Roughly 80% of breakfasts and 70% of lunches provided in the programs are free or at a reduced price.
“America’s schools have been and continue to be vital partners in making sure children get the nutrients they need at this critical stage of their learning and development,” Rollins said. “For many students, schools are where they get most of their meals and the healthiest food that they eat all day, and that is not lost on us.”
Kennedy said at the rally that the National Institutes of Health will engage in a new research program to “identify and rigorously evaluate practical, cost-efficient ways for schools to serve healthier food within their operating budgets.”
“We need to help them upgrade their kitchens,” Kennedy said. “We need to expand scratch cooking, reduce added sugars and ultra-processed food, serve more fresh produce, whole grains, and high-quality protein.”
Kennedy and Rollins also said a rule is being finalized to raise standards for school lunches, including increasing requirements for fresh fruits and vegetables, whole milk, whole grains, and locally sourced protein.
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Dr. Ben Carson, a USDA nutrition policy adviser and former Housing and Urban Development secretary, said revamping the federal school meals programs is essential to children’s long-term health.
“If they are given the right nutrition and the right exercise and water, hydration, it makes a tremendous difference not only in terms of their physical stature but in terms of their mental abilities,” Carson said.
