Late Tuesday, the Senate voted to adopt more flexible nutrition standards for school meals following intense lobbying by the potato and frozen-food industries.New federal nutrition standards scheduled to kick in next September would have limited servings of potatoes and other starchy vegetables to 1 cup per week, the equivalent to two servings. An amendment to the Agriculture spending bill from Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Mark Udall (D-Colo.) that prohibits limits on vegetable servings passed by voice vote.
Udall stated that, "I'm proud that Senator Collins and I were able to find a balance that ensures our kids are getting the proper nutrients in their school meals while still allowing schools the flexibility to serve affordable, healthy and local food. As schools budget for food services, we can't hamstring their ability to create healthful meals for schoolkids using nutritious and popular vegetables. The lessons we should be teaching our kids is that it's not about any one vegetable; it's how you cook it."
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Posted 10/19/2011
