How schools are bracing for MAHA changes to lunches
Goodbye, easy-to-prepare frozen meals; hello, more labor-intensive, freshly prepared meals.
That's one of the changes the Trump administration is looking to make to school lunch programs as students nationwide get ready to return to the classroom.
But advocates say the administration's pivot under U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. isn't practical without the federal funding to go with it, according to The Hill .
Kennedy has made no secret of his disdain for the ultra-processed foods that he says are doing a number on Americans' health
"We need to stop poisoning our kids and make sure that Americans are once again the healthiest kids on the planet," Kennedy said in April, according to The Hill.
Kennedy has praised such states as Arizona, Utah and West Virginia, where officials have moved to clamp down on certain dyes and processed foods, the online news outlet reported.
But Kennedy's goals have clashed with a funding reality, with the White House pulling the plug on a pair of programs, totaling $1 billion, that helped schools buy food from local farmers.
"They are being asked to create healthy and appealing meals on very slim budgets, and there have been things that have been happening recently that have taken away even more of their resources," Alexis Bylander, director of child nutrition programs and policy at the Food Research & Action Center, told The Hill.
In Massachusetts, officials have moved to mitigate those cuts, with lawmakers setting aside $7.5 million in additional funding for the state's Healthy Incentive Program , which provides healthy, fresh food for Bay State Families, while providing farmers with a way to sell produce.
The money was included in a $259 million midyear budget that lawmakers sent to Gov. Maura Healey last month.
The legislation was a priority for state Sen. Joanne M. Comerford, who pointed to the need for access to healthy food for qualifying families in the face of Republican-backed cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program − often referred to as "food stamps."
"It really speaks to this critical moment," Comerford, D-Hampshire/Franklin/Worcester, told MassLive earlier this year when she unveiled the legislation.
In Oklahoma, meanwhile, Ryan Walters, the Sooner State's superintendent of public instruction, is already working on making MAHA a reality in school meals. He's said that schools can no longer serve foods that are ultraprocessed or grown with pesticides, according to The Hill.
Oklahoma school districts are expected to make the changes without extra wiggle room in their budgets, The Hill reported.
"What we're seeing with the MAHA movement as it's applied in our state is lots of talk about restriction and what people can have and what choices they can make, but not a lot of talk about making sure people have access to the healthy things they need or the resources they need to not be food insecure … because, ultimately, if you don't have access to enough food, nutritious or not, your health outcomes are worse than if you do," Chris Bernard, the CEO and president of Hunger Free Oklahoma, told The Hill.
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Read the original article on MassLive .
