Trump recalls Michelle Obama’s ‘healthy’ rules; US schools can sell more pizza

The Trump administration on Friday recalled Michelle Obama’s healthier standards for school lunches in America, proposing rules to allow more pizza, meat and potatoes over fresh vegetables, fruits and whole grains, reports The Guardian. The proposal is aimed to allowing more flexibility with the Department of Agriculture (USDA) saying in a statement, “Because they (parents) know their children best.”

The new rules would allow schools to cut the amount of vegetables and fruits required at lunch and breakfasts while giving a greater scope to sell more pizza, hamburgers and French fries to students. USDA is responsible for administering nutritional programs that feed nearly 30 million students at 99,000 schools, according to the Washington Post.

The new rules have already found its share of detractors with Colin Schwartz, deputy director of legislative affairs for Center for Science in the Public Interest, claiming, “would create a huge loophole in school nutrition guidelines, paving the way for children to choose pizza, burgers, French fries and other foods high in calories, saturated fat or sodium in place of balanced school meals every day.”

However, agriculture secretary, Sonny Perdue had welcomed this move in 2017, saying, “If kids aren’t eating the food, and it’s ending up in the trash, they aren’t getting any nutrition – thus undermining the intent of the program.”

This ironically came on the former First Lady’s 56th birthday, which was not lost out on a lot of people, who took to social media to criticise the same.