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Statement

Moms Group Decries Trump Administration’s ‘Irresponsible’ Rollback of School Meal Standards, Charging It Will ‘Unnecessarily Put Our Children’s Health at Risk’

November 29, 2017
Youth & Family Justice

Lisa Lederer, 202-371-1996

Statement from Monifa Bandele, Vice President for Healthy Kids Programs of MomsRising.org, a national online and on-the-ground organization of more than 1 million mothers and their families across the country, on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s interim final School Meal Flexibility Rule, issued today
“The rule the Agriculture Department released today is grossly irresponsible and a significant step backward for our country and for our children’s health. The updated school nutrition standards have been working. Parents support them, kids benefit greatly from them, and the vast majority of schools have been able to comply with them.
 
“Instead of building on that progress, the Trump administration is relaxing these standards in the name of ‘flexibility’ – but this isn’t flexibility, it’s folly, and it’s a sop to special interests that peddle cheap, unhealthy processed foods to our children. With nutrition-related diseases like type 2 diabetes on the rise, this move will unnecessarily put our children’s health at risk.
 
“Children consume a significant portion of their daily calories at school, so the meals schools serve are critical to their growth and development and can affect their health for a lifetime. We urge all school officials to ignore this rollback and instead ensure that they serve only healthy foods and beverages.
 
“Today’s action is a deep disappointment.”
 

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MomsRising.org is an on-the-ground and online grassroots organization of more than a million people who are working to increase family economic security, decrease discrimination against women and moms, and to build a nation where businesses and families can thrive. Established in 2006, MomsRising and its members are organizing and speaking out to improve public policy and to change the national dialogue on issues that are critically important to America’s families, including criminal justice reform, immigration policy reform, and gun safety. MomsRising is working for paid family and medical leave, affordable, high quality childcare and early learning, and for an end to the wage and hiring discrimination which penalizes women — particularly moms and women of color — and so many others. MomsRising advocates for access to healthy food for all kids, health care for all, earned sick days, and breastfeeding rights so that all children can have a healthy start. MomsRising maintains a Spanish language website: MamásConPoder.org. Sign up online at www.MomsRising.org — and follow us on our blog, and on Twitter and Facebook.