School nutrition regulations come under fire
Districts complain the proposed rules are burdensome, costly
SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2011 AT 7:32 P.M.
EARNIE GRAFTON
Michael Bates leads a line of kindergarteners through the salad and fruit bar at lunch in the Cherokee Point Elementary School in City Heights.
Watch your peas and corn, school cafeterias.
Proposed federal nutrition regulations aimed at fighting obesity and improving eating habits of the nation’s youth have come under fire by school districts that say the rules are impractical, over-reaching and would cost billions of dollars at a time when their budgets are already too lean.
Signed by President Barack Obamalast December, the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act aims to get children to eat more fruit and vegetables and less fat and salt — goals that have been universally accepted. But some of the regulations developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to carry out the