Noem school lunch bill fattens kids, campaign donors

Schwan's Food Service manufactures subsidized products from commodities then markets them to distributors like Reinhart and Sysco who sell them to school lunch programs.

Marshall, Minnesota-based pizza peddler Schwan's gives Republicans including South Dakota's At-large Representative Kristi Noem campaign cash. So do other industrial ag companies like Crystal Sugar selling salted fat to schools. Now she is paying them back.

Rep. Kristi Noem on Tuesday announced plans for legislation that reduces federal mandates on school meal standards, including the more stringent whole grain requirements that went into effect in July 2014 and the Target 2 sodium requirements set to be implemented in the coming years. [Mitchell Daily Republic]

Mother Jones tells readers why:

But opponents of the act argue that the requirements leave students with unappetizing choices that result in tons of waste. This notion was supported in a spring 2014 report from the Harvard School of Public Health, which found that nearly 75 percent of vegetables and 40 percent of fruit being served in school cafeterias were ending up in trash cans. But critics have pointed out that helping "struggling schools" is not the sole agenda of the SNA—its sponsors include Domino's Pizza, General Mills Foodservice, PepsiCo Foodservice, and Tyson Foods, Inc.—all of whom contract with school cafeterias and would benefit from less stringent nutritional regulations. [Allie Gross]

Progress has been made under current school lunch rules but as industrial agriculture lines Republican pockets South Dakota's children will again suffer from elevated risks to obesity.

Most South Dakota schools could be feeding food waste to chickens and hogs maybe composting for community gardens. Hot Springs, Philip and Midland enjoy geothermic water to heat greenhouses.

@SchoolLunch @SenateAgGOP @SenPatRoberts it's the size of our kids we're worried about.
— Don Carr (@donpcarr) March 4, 2015

95% of public schools participate in the U.S. school lunch program--see how they're getting healthier: http://t.co/HR0OpZF34e
— The Pew Trusts (@pewtrusts) February 28, 2015

Fighting Childhood Obesity Among Native Americans, 1 Year Pilot to Begin @SDState #NativeHealth #NativeYouth http://t.co/1qBkmtefvh
— Harvard Native (@HarvardNAP) March 4, 2015