On Thursday, the House Appropriations Committee approved an agriculture spending bill that would allow many schools to postpone meeting nutritional guidelines for the federally subsidized lunch programs that provide free or low-cost meals to more than 30 million students. Under guidelines published in January 2012, school lunches are to include more fruits and vegetables, whole grain breads and less sodium.Only a decade ago there was bipartisan support for healthier school lunches, but now many Republicans deplore what they see as government bureaucrats’ dictating food choices, driving up the cost of a cafeteria meal and offending personal preferences for certain junk foods.
