WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts, R-Kan., Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, today applauded U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue for publishing the Child Nutrition Programs: Flexibilities for Milk, Whole Grains, and Sodium Requirements final rule. This rule solidifies regulatory flexibility for the National School Lunch Program, the School Breakfast Program, and other federal child nutrition programs.
“In one of his first official acts as Secretary of Agriculture, I joined Sonny Perdue in announcing school meal regulatory flexibility,” said Chairman Roberts. “I’m pleased he has made good on that promise. This important rule helps to ensure that schoolchildren across the country will have full stomachs, not full lunchroom trash cans.”
The final rule allows schools to serve flavored, low-fat milk and occasional non-whole grain rich products, while also providing flexibility in the timeline schools are required to reduce sodium levels.
Chairman Roberts has long been an advocate for flexibility in school meal standards, repeatedly calling on the previous Administration to provide regulatory relief to local school districts. Roberts has joined students for lunch in both urban and rural areas in Kansas, listening to school nutritionists and students’ concerns regarding rigid school meal standards.
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