USDA Details Proposed Changes to School Meals

January 18, 2011 -- For the first time in 15 years, The U.S. Department of Agriculture has proposed changes to the amounts and types of foods served in the federal school meals program. The new standards would increase the amounts and varieties of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and lower the amount of saturated fat, trans fat, and sodium in meals provided to more than 32 million schoolchildren who participate in these meal programs. The changes largely mirror recommendations made by the Institute of Medicine in a 2009 report, School Meals: Building Blocks for Healthy Children. USDA will accept public comments on the proposed changes through April 13. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack says he hopes schools will begin to initiate these changes in the fall of 2011.