RPC Reg Spotlight March 5, 2012

 

Regulatory Action in the Spotlight:

 

Nutrition standards in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs

 

Adverse Effects:

 

  • It could decrease participation in the school meals program.
  • The regulation stands to cost $3.2 billion.

 

Response of the Obama Administration:

 

On January 26, 2012, the Department of Agriculture unveiled a new regulation (RIN 0584-AD59) concerning nutrition standards in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs.  The Health, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, signed in to law by President Obama on December 13, 2010, required the Department of Agriculture to issue regulations updating the meal patterns and nutrition standards for school lunch programs and align them with Dietary Guidelines for Americans.  Among the new standards, students will be offered daily servings of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, there will be a limiting of milk choices, calorie maximums and minimums will be set, and there will be a gradual reduction of sodium and trans fat.  After receiving over 130,000 comments on this issue, the Obama administration revised aspects of the rule and provided a more flexible implementation schedule.  The rule goes into effect in the fall of 2012, with schools having three years to phase in the changes.  First Lady Michelle Obama, who has championed efforts to fight childhood obesity, said: “When we send our kids to school, we expect that they won’t be eating the kind of fatty, salty, sugary foods that we try to keep them from eating at home.”

 

Impact on the United States:

 

The national lunch program feeds nearly 32 million school children every day.  Any school that accepts federal subsidies is required to meet these new standards.  This rule is the first time in 15 years the Department of Agriculture has updated nutrition stands.  The rule stands to cost $3.2 billion over the next five years.  This is less than the original proposed rule, which had stood to cost more than $6 billion.  Schools will receive an additional 6 cents per meal for correct implementation, the first increase in 30 years.  The Congressional Budget Office estimates about $1.5 billion over 5 years will be provided to schools in performance-based funding.  However, the impact of this regulation could have unintended consequences.  As San Diego Unified School District Food Services Planning Supervisor Sally Spero said, “Some of the new untried and untested federal requirements could decrease participation in the national school meals programs, leaving some children hungry and driving others to less-healthy alternatives.”

 

In Closing:

 

This is a costly regulation that may actually have the opposite effect than it intended: moving students away from the national school lunch program.  Additionally, many of the costs of this program will be forced upon local school districts.  As Karen Castaneda, Director of Food Service at Pennbridge School District in Perkasie, Pennsylvania, said “The proposed rule is essentially an unfunded mandate, which will harm my program… unfortunately every school food authority regardless of the economic status, whether a self-operated or contracted operation will experience a financial loss.” 

 

Relevant Legislation:

 

On May 13, 2011, the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education held a hearing entitled, “Examining the Costs of Federal Overreach into School Meals”.  In his testimony, Barry Sackin, a consultant in the field of child nutrition and school meals with more than thirty years of experience in the industry, stated: “While in an ideal world, many of the recommendations contained in the proposed rule are very desirable, the reality is that some of them may undermine student access and participation, in part by increasing costs at all points along the supply chain to a point where the program is no longer sustainable.”