Subscribe to the RSS feed.Institute of Medicine: School meals need to improve. But does the IOM have teeth?
Did you know that the National school lunch and breakfast programs’ nutrition standards haven’t been updated in nearly 15 years?
Earlier this week, the Federal Institute of Medicine issued a report recommending new standards, calling for more produce, more whole grains, and a limit to calories. The panel’s recommendations go to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which requested the report, for implementation.
However, the U.S. Department of Agriculture overwhelmingly promotes commodities such as processed foods, meat, and dairy, which tend to be high in calories, fat and sugar. The USDA has always avoided pushing the envelope on healthy recommendations which might offend agribusiness food lobbyists.
Corn and soybeans comprise a significant amount of the $15 billion in government farm subsidies each year. That’s a lot of government-sponsored high-fructose corn syrup and partially hydrogenated oils – not to mention corn-fattened cows and pigs!
Meanwhile, fruit and vegetable farmers receive no subsidies from the government.
As Robert Guenther, vice president of public policy for the United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association once remarked, “We’re pleased that they continue to say that fruits and vegetables in general are important, but you can’t just issue these reports and walk away. You need to get behind it.”
