US schools, lawmakers, worry about food costs

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

Eating healthful food isn’t always cheap, and some conservatives in Congress are concerned that the Obama administration’s effort to make school lunches more nutritious is a luxury the nation can’t afford.

Many schools, especially the poorest ones, agree. They say new rules issued by the Agriculture Department in January will require them to buy pricier foods and more equipment at a time when federal and state budgets are tight and food costs are rising.

The new menus will cost an additional 14 cents a meal, according to the Agriculture Department. A spending bill approved Tuesday in the House Appropriations Committee estimates that the new lunch rules could cost schools an additional $7 billion over five years. Saying that “unrealistic demands” can lead to burdensome costs, the Republican bill directs USDA to rewrite the rules so they wouldn’t force schools to spend additional money.

“I think what is unanswered is where will the resources come from,” says Lucy Gettman of the National School Boards Association, which has said the bill puts too many unfunded mandates on schools.