The Biden administration is set to boost the health standards of meals provided in public schools across the U.S.
The plan is to reduce the amount of sugars, salt and fat used to prepare foods for meals like school lunch and breakfast. It's a similar plan to that of the Obama administration's Health, Hunger Free Kids Act, which required schools to provide more fruits, veggies, whole grains and fat free or low fat milks.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said raising the nutritional standards of school meals is key to children's overall success.
"This is a national security imperative. It's a healthcare imperative for our children. It's an equity issue. It's an educational achievement issue. And it's an economic competitiveness issue," he said.
The new rules are set to roll out over the next several years with the hope that by 2024, 80 percent of grains in schools will be whole.
"School meals happen to be the meals with the highest nutritional value of any meal that children can get outside the home," Vislack said.
However, the plan to increase the health benefits of foods for youth is not universally shared. Advocates for the dairy industry say they are concerned. Some school officials also say the rolled back ingredients will limit which food menu options, which could ultimately push students toward less healthier options.
"Most districts allow students to leave campus. They'll be hitting the convenience stores, the fast-food restaurants," Michael Gasper, nutrition services supervisor for Holmen, Wisconsin school district, said.
Ford's vice president of enterprise product line management Jim Baumbick joined Cheddar to discuss the new ad campaign to push for people to continue following COVID safety guidelines into the new year.
The race to vaccinate millions of Americans is off to a slower, messier start than public health officials and leaders of the Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed had expected.
Danimer Scientific CEO Stephen Croskrey talked with Cheddar about why the biodegradable plastics manufacturer went the increasingly popular SPAC route to go public.
The first reported U.S. case of the COVID-19 variant that’s been seen in the United Kingdom has been discovered in Colorado.
The first U.S. government dietary guidelines for infants and toddlers recommend feeding only breast milk for at least six months and giving no added sugar to children younger than 2.
Pfizer and BioNTech will supply the U.S. with an additional 100 million doses of their COVID-19 vaccine under a new agreement.
The coordinator of the White House coronavirus response says she plans to retire. But first, Dr. Deborah Birx says, she's willing to help President-elect Joe Biden’s team with its coronavirus response if needed.
Spreading the word that the COVID vaccine is safe and effective is Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., who represents Harlem and much of Upper Manhattan.
President-elect Joe Biden received his first dose of the coronavirus vaccine on live television as part of a growing effort to convince the American public the inoculations are safe.
The U.S. Geological Survey says the Kilauea volcano on Hawaii's Big Island has erupted and there were reports of lava fountains shooting about 165 feet into the sky.
