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A federal waiver that made school breakfasts and lunches free to students regardless of their family’s income is set to expire June 30, eliminating a benefit that has helped millions of schoolchildren at a time when they need it more than ever, anti-hunger advocates say. The free school meals program began in March 2020 when Congress authorized the U.S. Department of Agriculture to issue dozens of child nutrition waivers, including ones that expanded summer food programs, to provide a lifeline during the pandemic.

Donald Trump and the Republicans aren’t just making America great again. They’re making Taco Tuesday great again, too. According to Fox News, Republicans in Congress are looking into legislation that would roll back portions of former first lady Michelle Obama’s controversial school lunch program, likely meaning the end of the inedible stuff. A document posted on the website of Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., called for rolling back parts of the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 in Trump’s first 100 days. The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, for those of you unaware, is the rather Orwellian name for the...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is pushing back against a campaign criticizing First Lady Michelle Obama’s school lunch rules by showing one picture of a somewhat appetizing child’s lunch. “They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and in the digital age we have ample opportunity to document and broadcast every moment, meeting and meal,” wrote Deborah Kane, the national director of the USDA Farm to School Program, in a blog post Thursday. “We have all seen those unappetizing photos of food served at school that quickly go viral,” she said. “A lonesome whole wheat bun atop a sad...

Federally-mandated changes to school lunches backed by first lady Michelle Obama helped cause an unprecedented drop in the number of students eating lunch, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The GAO cited two factors stemming from the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, which caused a decrease in the number of children eating school lunch each day: school childrens’ issues with “palatability” and “federally-mandated” increases in the price of school lunches.

After taking comments from parents, “Someone in the audience made a good point.” She added, “Michelle Obama put these things into play, but her children go to private school and they don’t have to follow these standards.”

Some employers provide employees with company-paid free lunches. The idea is to keep workers at their desks and improve productivity. The expense has normally been lumped in with other expenses as a cost of doing business. The IRS now wants to tax these lunches as income to the employees. IRS spokesperson Jason Coveter explained that “most employees have to furnish their own lunches. Whether they go out and buy it or bring it from home, they are bearing this cost themselves. It is unfair for other employees to get a lunch paid for by their employer. We’re just trying to...

by Gina Cassini | Top Right NewsFirst Lady Michelle Obama threatened Republicans in Congress who want to allow local school districts to opt out of federal regulations on school lunches that she created. "This is unacceptable," she said during a roundtable discussion of the issue. “It's unacceptable to me not just as First Lady but also as a mother."Apparently it's perfectly acceptable to Michelle "as a mother" that her own daughters are eating meatball subs and ice cream at for lunch their elite private school Sidwell Friends, as we reported yesterday.

It´s only been three days, but President Obama has quickly settled into the vacation diet on Martha´s Vineyard. But don´t tell the first lady. During a rainy day on Tuesday, he traveled to Nancy´s in scenic Oak Bluffs for a fried lunch. According to the pool report: "POTUS´s food order at Nancy´s was fried shrimp, fried oysters, onion rings and french fries." Obviously not on the lunch trip was first lady Michelle Obama, the first family´s fitness buff. Obama showed up at Nancy´s in a blue fleece, a Chicago White Sox cap and Nike sneakers. According to the pool, he

LA teachers oppose feeding 200,000 students Breakfast in classroom. Teachers Union vs SCIU Rush Morning update

PHILADELPHIA - New federal regulations require healthier lunches in schools next year. USDA undersecretary Audrey Rowe lunched on chicken salad yesterday with kids at the Roberto Clemente Middle School. Rowe was in town to highlight new school lunch nutrition standards that take effect in the fall. “We will be expanding on the amount of fruits and vegetables offered to the children. Obviously, even though the products are going to be prepackaged, they’re going to be healthier.” With the new requirements, comes a modest 6-cent-per meal increase in federal reimbursements.

Many retailers and schools are advocating waste-free options for back-to-school shoppers this year, especially when it comes to lunch. School lists call for Tupperware instead of Ziplocs, neoprene lunch bags instead of brown paper ones, and aluminum water bottles, not the throwaway plastic versions. Sales of environmentally friendly back-to-school products are up just about everywhere. At the Container Store, the increase is 30 percent over last year for some items, said Mona Williams, the company’s vice president of buying. “We have seen a huge resurgence,” she said. The trend makes the schools happy (much less garbage). It makes the stores...

Of the 2,200 students at Intermediate School 61 in Corona, Queens, 86 percent receive free cafeteria lunches. Some others pay a reduced price, and some are supposed to pay full price. But not all of their parents pay what they are supposed to, and recently, the school’s principal, Joseph Lisa, has been spending a lot of time trying to collect money from them. He has cornered them in the hallways. He has offered them gentle reminders after school meetings. He has called them and sent them letters suggesting payment plans for debts that might amount to $20 or $30. “We...

A pro-family organization that works to equip churches to transform the culture is defending a privately held, family-owned chicken restaurant that is under fire for providing lunches for a recent marriage seminar. In addition to closing on Sundays to allow worship and family time for its employees, Chick-fil-A and many of its franchise owners across the U.S. have pledged to contribute to everything from marriage seminars to retreats and counseling for the employees of its 1,200 locations. The perk has gone largely unnoticed until recently. "A local Pennsylvania Chick-fil-A decided to donate some box-lunches to a seminar called 'The Art...

More than two-thirds of New York City's public school students will begin getting more nutritious free or low-cost school lunches under First Lady Michelle Obama's pet project to get kids to eat well and exercise. President Obama signed into law Sunday the $4.5 billion Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which expands the free lunch program and requires that schools provide more nutritious lunches. "We've seen the connection between what kids eat and how well they perform in school," he said. Some 680,000 out of 1.1 million New York children participate in the school lunch program - a big chunk of the...

-Mike Huckabee, Governor of Arkansas 1996-2007 “The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act makes significant progress toward ending child hunger and obesity by expanding access to federal child nutrition programs and improving the nutritional value they provide. In addition to reauthorizing federal child nutrition programs, the act will help address childhood obesity by reducing the fat and calorie content of school meals. Reversing the childhood obesity epidemic in a single generation – as First Lady Michelle Obama has called upon our nation to do – won’t be easy. It will require a long-term, sustained commitment to attacking this issue across multiple fronts....

The question is — be honest — where will the money come from? Government is chock-full of programs many people view as worthwhile — until the cost is added up. Then, many taxpayers decide priorities need to be set. That is why liberals in government have become adept at concealing the cost of social programs. One example is currently in the news. First lady Michelle Obama insists that healthier foods should be served in public school lunches. That will require a new $4.5 billion program, say the program's proponents. The federally funded school-lunch program feeds 31 million low-income American children...

WASHINGTON — Pizzas and hamburgers in the school lunch line would be healthier under child nutrition legislation passed by the Senate Thursday, a key part of first lady Michelle Obama's campaign to end childhood obesity. The $4.5 billion legislation passed by voice vote would create new standards for all foods in schools, including vending machine items, to give students healthier meal options. It would also expand the number of low-income children eligible for free or reduced cost meals. The legislation had stalled since Senate committee passage in March, but it gained new attention as the White House became involved this...

An Auburn elementary school teacher has been charged with three counts of petit larceny and endangering the welfare of a child. Police say Alan Robinson, a third grade teacher at Genesee Elementary School, had three students use their identification numbers to purchase school lunches. Students told police they would bring the lunches to Robinson’s class where he would then eat them and not pay the students or the school for the food. Police say Robinson admitted to taking the lunches. An investigation began when the parents of one student questioned some unauthorized charges on their child’s account. Robison was released...

On the day of his major Afghanistan speech, President Obama had lunch with a group of top political writers at the White House, according to a source familiar with the lunch. There were some attendees today who write extensively on foreign policy, such as Joe Klein (Time), Fareed Zakaria (Newsweek/ CNN), and Tom Friedman (NY Times).

Lunch trades outlawed to protect kids with allergies ORMONDALE SCHOOL JOINS THOSE THAT HAVE APPLIED TIGHTER RULES By Kim Vo Mercury News In the underground economy of school lunches, third-grader Siobhan Rickert explained, the demands are straightforward: ``If you give me this cookie, I'll give you this pretzel.'' But no more. This month, Ormondale School in Portola Valley began cracking down on lunch swaps. No more trading mom's turkey sandwich for a peanut butter and jelly -- or exchanging chocolate chip cookies for, well, just about anything you want. Ormondale joins a smattering of Bay Area schools that have banned...