1 00:00:01,966 --> 00:00:04,500 JUDY WOODRUFF: When Michelle Obama was first lady, one of her key initiatives was to push 2 00:00:04,500 --> 00:00:09,500 for healthier nutrition and food choices. That translated into a change for public school 3 00:00:10,366 --> 00:00:12,466 lunches around the country. 4 00:00:12,466 --> 00:00:16,900 But the Trump administration and some state officials argue that the Obama administration 5 00:00:16,900 --> 00:00:21,900 went too far, and this administration has been rolling back some of those moves. 6 00:00:24,400 --> 00:00:27,300 As Amna Nawaz tells us, today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture proposed additional changes. 7 00:00:28,166 --> 00:00:30,166 AMNA NAWAZ: That's right, Judy. 8 00:00:30,166 --> 00:00:34,100 The Trump administration already changed the Obama standards for whole grains, sodium and 9 00:00:36,166 --> 00:00:38,933 nonfat milk. Today, it approached new rules that would role back the amount of fruits 10 00:00:38,933 --> 00:00:42,966 and vegetables required at school breakfasts and lunches. 11 00:00:42,966 --> 00:00:47,933 These programs feed nearly 30 million students around the country. Some advocates are worried 12 00:00:48,700 --> 00:00:50,933 about these changes. 13 00:00:50,933 --> 00:00:53,766 Crystal FitzSimons is among them. She's the director of school and out of school programs 14 00:00:53,766 --> 00:00:58,733 at the Food Research and Action Center, an advocacy group that targets hunger and undernutrition. 15 00:01:00,100 --> 00:01:02,166 Welcome back to the "NewsHour." 16 00:01:02,166 --> 00:01:04,200 CRYSTAL FITZSIMONS, Food and Research Action Center: Thank you for having me on today. 17 00:01:04,200 --> 00:01:06,666 AMNA NAWAZ: So, the justification from the administration is, look, the Obama era rules 18 00:01:06,666 --> 00:01:10,100 led to low participation from schools and a lot more food waste. 19 00:01:10,100 --> 00:01:14,900 The agriculture secretary, Sonny Perdue, actually said, this is commonsense flexibility that 20 00:01:14,900 --> 00:01:19,066 these programs need to continue to provide nutritious school lunches and breakfasts. 21 00:01:19,066 --> 00:01:20,533 What do you say to that? 22 00:01:20,533 --> 00:01:22,566 CRYSTAL FITZSIMONS: Well, I would say that that's not right. 23 00:01:22,566 --> 00:01:27,033 I think that we need to be providing the most healthy meals possible. The changes that were 24 00:01:29,466 --> 00:01:31,900 made under the Obama administration really did a lot to help improve the nutrition quality 25 00:01:31,900 --> 00:01:36,733 of the meals that are being served. And we know that more than 30 million kids are relying 26 00:01:36,733 --> 00:01:40,133 on school lunch each day for healthy lunches. 27 00:01:40,133 --> 00:01:42,266 And we should be providing the healthiest lunches possible. 28 00:01:42,266 --> 00:01:46,400 AMNA NAWAZ: But was there, as a result of those regulations, low participation and an 29 00:01:46,400 --> 00:01:48,433 increase in food waste? Do we know that? 30 00:01:48,433 --> 00:01:52,733 CRYSTAL FITZSIMONS: No, we know that there is participation, that participation has been 31 00:01:53,500 --> 00:01:55,566 remaining pretty strong. 32 00:01:55,566 --> 00:01:59,433 And we know that there are lots of things that contribute to kids not eating their lunches. 33 00:01:59,433 --> 00:02:04,133 Kids really do need to have enough time in order to eat their lunches. And too many schools 34 00:02:04,133 --> 00:02:08,066 actually do not provide enough time during the lunch hour. 35 00:02:08,066 --> 00:02:12,133 And we know that there's millions of kids who live in households that struggle against 36 00:02:12,133 --> 00:02:16,966 hunger. And we know that we have a huge obesity epidemic. And we really need to be working 37 00:02:16,966 --> 00:02:21,966 hard to make sure that we're providing fruits and vegetables, healthy food, whole grains, 38 00:02:23,966 --> 00:02:26,500 low sodium, all those good things that are going to allow kids to get the nutrition they 39 00:02:26,500 --> 00:02:28,533 need to learn and be healthy. 40 00:02:28,533 --> 00:02:31,933 AMNA NAWAZ: Help me put sort of a finer point on it here to understand what this looks like. 41 00:02:31,933 --> 00:02:36,166 So, previously, a standard breakfast, say, under the previous rules, they had to provide 42 00:02:36,166 --> 00:02:38,966 one cup of fruit. What would be different now under the new rules? 43 00:02:38,966 --> 00:02:41,933 CRYSTAL FITZSIMONS: So now they would be required to provide just half-a-cup. 44 00:02:41,933 --> 00:02:43,466 AMNA NAWAZ: Just half-a-cup. 45 00:02:43,466 --> 00:02:46,033 CRYSTAL FITZSIMONS: And so there would be less fruit on the tray. 46 00:02:46,033 --> 00:02:51,033 And that flexibility -- we want kids to be eating fruit. We want the schools to be offering 47 00:02:53,100 --> 00:02:56,066 healthy fruit. We want them to be introducing fruit to kids and different kinds of fruit. 48 00:02:58,066 --> 00:03:00,833 And we want schools to be working hard to make sure that they're providing appealing 49 00:03:00,833 --> 00:03:02,933 meals. 50 00:03:02,933 --> 00:03:05,066 AMNA NAWAZ: A lot of the headlines are talking about burgers and french fries as well. Under 51 00:03:05,066 --> 00:03:09,866 the previous rules, schools had to provide at lunchtime at least a sort of variety of 52 00:03:09,866 --> 00:03:11,066 vegetables. 53 00:03:11,066 --> 00:03:12,000 What's new? What would be different? 54 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:14,466 CRYSTAL FITZSIMONS: Right. 55 00:03:14,466 --> 00:03:17,766 So there's more flexibility in providing vegetables. So we would expect to see more french fries 56 00:03:17,766 --> 00:03:19,900 on the school lunch tray. 57 00:03:19,900 --> 00:03:22,333 AMNA NAWAZ: And so here's the question, because, obviously, you're assuming that they will 58 00:03:22,333 --> 00:03:27,133 take the lower nutritional value option, if given the option here. 59 00:03:27,133 --> 00:03:30,733 I want to put to you, though, the statement from the School Nutrition Association, right? 60 00:03:30,733 --> 00:03:35,733 This is the organization of cafeteria workers, all the businesses that provide the food to 61 00:03:36,866 --> 00:03:39,366 those schools. They welcomed these changes. 62 00:03:39,366 --> 00:03:42,500 And they said, look, the upgraded nutrition standards for school meals have been a tremendous 63 00:03:42,500 --> 00:03:46,233 success overall. But then they cited the same things the administration did, saying that 64 00:03:46,233 --> 00:03:49,633 there has been reduced participation and higher costs. 65 00:03:49,633 --> 00:03:53,600 You're assuming that they will provide less healthy options, but might they uphold the 66 00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:56,066 same nutritional standards even if they're not required to? 67 00:03:56,066 --> 00:03:59,200 CRYSTAL FITZSIMONS: So there are plenty of schools across the country that are not going 68 00:03:59,200 --> 00:04:03,100 to roll back the standards. There are a lot of school nutrition departments and a lot 69 00:04:03,100 --> 00:04:06,700 of school districts that are really committed to providing healthy meals. 70 00:04:06,700 --> 00:04:11,700 But we want to make sure that kids in Oregon have as healthy meals as kids in Illinois, 71 00:04:13,333 --> 00:04:16,766 and kids in Alabama need to have as healthy meals as kids in California. 72 00:04:16,766 --> 00:04:21,466 We really -- it's a national program. We need national standards, and we need to make sure 73 00:04:21,466 --> 00:04:23,566 that kids are getting healthy food. 74 00:04:23,566 --> 00:04:26,533 AMNA NAWAZ: When you look at the student population, you know who participates and who relies on 75 00:04:26,533 --> 00:04:28,633 a lot of these programs. 76 00:04:28,633 --> 00:04:31,700 Who are you worried is going to be most affected by these potential changes and how? 77 00:04:31,700 --> 00:04:33,800 CRYSTAL FITZSIMONS: Right. 78 00:04:33,800 --> 00:04:36,333 So, the vast majority of kids who participate in the school lunch program are low-income 79 00:04:36,333 --> 00:04:41,333 and do receive either free or reduced-price school lunches. And we know that those meals 80 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:46,400 are actually often the meals that they're going to be relying on and their only meals. 81 00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:50,600 So we want to make sure they're healthy. And we need to make sure that they have access 82 00:04:50,600 --> 00:04:55,600 to them. And schools can do a lot to reduce - - can reduce plate waste by making sure that 83 00:04:56,800 --> 00:04:59,133 they do have enough time to eat. 84 00:04:59,133 --> 00:05:03,933 So there are strategies. Schools are doing salad bars. Schools are doing farm to school. 85 00:05:03,933 --> 00:05:08,400 There's really wonderful, creative ways that schools across the country are making sure 86 00:05:08,400 --> 00:05:11,700 that kids want to eat their fruits and vegetables. And we want to make sure that's happening 87 00:05:11,700 --> 00:05:13,700 in every school. 88 00:05:13,700 --> 00:05:16,600 And we do not want to see these rollbacks to the school nutrition standards. 89 00:05:16,600 --> 00:05:18,133 AMNA NAWAZ: Just a few seconds left. 90 00:05:18,133 --> 00:05:20,600 I should mention this is a proposed new rule, right? 91 00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:22,233 CRYSTAL FITZSIMONS: It is, yes. 92 00:05:22,233 --> 00:05:24,300 AMNA NAWAZ: It goes into an open comment period in the coming days. 93 00:05:24,300 --> 00:05:26,566 Do you see this as a done deal? Do you think there's any way that these rules don't go 94 00:05:26,566 --> 00:05:28,666 through? 95 00:05:28,666 --> 00:05:31,466 CRYSTAL FITZSIMONS: Well, I think it's not a done deal if everybody responds and submits 96 00:05:31,466 --> 00:05:33,566 comments. 97 00:05:33,566 --> 00:05:36,433 So there's a huge opportunity here to weigh in on this, to let people know that we don't 98 00:05:36,433 --> 00:05:41,333 want to see these standards rolled back. And people should really take that step and take 99 00:05:41,333 --> 00:05:45,933 the time to let the administration know that they want healthy meals in their school breakfast 100 00:05:45,933 --> 00:05:47,133 and school lunch programs. 101 00:05:47,133 --> 00:05:49,166 AMNA NAWAZ: This is such an important topic. 102 00:05:49,166 --> 00:05:52,633 Crystal FitzSimons of the Food Research and Action Center, thanks for being with us again. 103 00:05:52,633 --> 00:05:53,066 CRYSTAL FITZSIMONS: Thank you for having me.