Requirements that federally-supported school food be super healthy isn’t just prompting students to steer clear of the cafeteria line, but it is crushing popular fundraising campaigns because favorites like candy, cup cakes and popcorn aren’t allowed anymore, according to a new report.
The General Accountability Office, in a report that said 1.4 million children have bailed from the school lunch program because they don’t like the low-salt, low-sugar chow, found that school club and team fundraisers are failing too because outside, “competitive” food, is also covered by the new rules.
“An athletic director in one district we reviewed and a school store manager in another said that they had experienced reduced revenues from fundraising, which resulted in less money to subsidize athletic facilities, equipment, uniforms, field trips, and travel for competition at regional and national events,” said the report.
Some school officials have solved the problem by ignoring the rules and refusing to act as “the food police.”
GAO snoops in one school, for example, “observed a bake sale in a school cafeteria during the lunch period, and students told us about another bake sale held by a teacher in a classroom during the school day and sales of candy in the library during the school day.”
Those problems are in addition to the rejection by students of the new diet, the product of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act championed by first lady Michelle Obama and signed by President Obama.
The School Nutrition Association just this week said so many kids are protesting their school cafeteria that schools are having to eat $1.2 billion in costs because their sales revenues are down. “School districts are being forced to financially subsidize meals at the expense of educational programs,” the association said in a letter to Congress asking for financial support.
SNA & @AASAHQ Urge Congress to Help School Meal Pgms. Districts forced to subsidize meals at expense of educ pgms. https://t.co/WiG1fVYVhX
— SchoolLunch (@SchoolLunch) October 26, 2015
At the schools, many students just throw the food away, said GAO. But it’s not as bad as before, and students are now tossing fruit and vegetables. “The plate waste we observed when visiting schools in school year 2014-2015 was generally limited to a small number of students throwing away some of their fruits and vegetables in 7 of the 14 schools,” said GAO.
But items high in grains are still a turn off. “Specifically, directors and staff from seven of eight (school districts) told us that students do not like certain whole grain-rich foods, so getting them to take and eat them continues to be a challenge,” said GAO.
And some kids even bring in their salt and pepper to add flavor to the bland, low salt fare, said GAO.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
