Wisconsin Potato and Vegetable Growers Association

Proposed School Lunch Changes Could Have Unintended Consequences

March 11th, 2011 | Posted in: News

The USDA is proposing to change the nutritional guidelines for the school lunch program that would restrict students to just one cup of certain vegetables per week. These vegetables include peas, lima beans, corn, and POTATOES! Not one cup of each, just one cup total per week!

Potatoes are an excellent source of potassium, dietary fiber, and vitamin C, and they are a vegetable kids love to eat! You, the public, can submit comments to the Department of Agriculture by clicking this link. It is very important that common sense prevails, and our children don’t lose the ability to eat and enjoy America’s favorite vegetable in our school lunch program. The deadline to submit comments is April 13, 2011.

The proposed changes will also be costly for school districts; 23% higher for breakfasts and 9% higher for lunch. This will put additional pressure on already financially strapped school districts. The potato is a nutritional bargain!

Chris Voigt from the Washington State Potato Commission has created a link on his “20 Potatoes a Day” web site where you can submit comments to your own senators and representatives as well as officials at the USDA on these proposed changes as well as the WIC Program guidelines that have excluded potatoes from the program. Click on this link to get to Chris’s web site, then click on the “Take Action” tab. Once there you will hav to fill out a brief questionnaire to direct your comments to your Washington representation.

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