Kids' Health Could Suffer Under Trump School Lunch Rule, AG Says

NEW YORK — New York and five other states sued Wednesday to block a Trump administration rollback of nutrition standards for school meals that the attorney general says could harm kids' health.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture moved in December to cut in half the amount of whole-grain foods schools are required to serve in breakfasts and lunches and to junk a limit on sodium in school meals.

The new USDA rule, set to take effect July 1, will effectively quash basic nutritional standards set under President Barack Obama. The Trump administration did not base the changes on scientific research, as the law requires, or give the public a chance to comment on them, the six states and the District of Columbia argue in their lawsuit.

"Rather than protect and support our most vulnerable children and maintain nutrition standards for the most vulnerable, the Trump administration is actively working to harm them even more," James said Wednesday outside P.S. 67, a Fort Greene school where she said 99 percent of the kids qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

Some 30 million kids across the United States, including 1.6 million in New York, depend on the breakfasts and lunches they get at school, James said. Three-quarters of New York City students were eligible for free lunch before lunch became free for all students in 2017, according to the city Department of Education.

The Obama-era nutrition rules set a target for reducing sodium in school meals with two phased-in deadlines and required schools to serve only "whole grain-rich" products starting in the 2014-15 school year, the states' lawsuit says.

The USDA rule will delay the second sodium deadline by five years, scrap the final target altogether and only require half the weekly grains in school lunches and breakfasts to be whole-grain rich. That means "more salt and more white bread" for kids, according to James.

A USDA spokesman said the agency does not comment on pending litigation. But the department said in its rule that the changes would give school officials "flexibility and predictability" to run child nutrition programs.

"This rule will help Program operators provide wholesome and appealing meals that reflect the Dietary Guidelines and meet the needs and preferences of their communities," the USDA wrote.

But the lawsuit argues the changes are not based on federal dietary guidelines, "tested nutritional research" or a 2009 study by the Food and Nutrition Board, as required by federal law. And while the USDA accepted comments when it issued an "interim" rule in 2017, the public didn't get a chance to weigh in on the changes in last year's final rule, according to the lawsuit.

"If you’re going to roll back any regulations it should be based on scientific evidence, and unfortunately there is no evidence that has been submitted," James said. "They just rolled it back ... in the darkness and without any proof."

The city currently follows the Obama-era guidelines and will continue to do so, said Anna Bessendorf of the Mayor's Office of Food Policy. But James said the new rule will harm kids in the city and across the state.

"The USDA rollback of school nutrition standards goes against all science based evidence of what children need to be healthy and thrive and be healthy in school," said Liz Accles, the executive director of Community Food Advocates. "While New York City values the wellbeing of children and we have universal free school lunch, the federal standards need to make progress and we certainly do not need to be taking steps backwards."