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.
Dr. Rick Bright is telling Congress that America faces the “darkest winter in modern history” unless its leaders act decisively to prevent a rebound of the coronavirus.
With grim images of coronavirus frontline workers splashing across screens, the founder of the virtual support group Lyf decided to come up with new ways of helping those struggling during the pandemic.
Josh Morrison, the co-founder of 1 Day Sooner, discussed asking volunteers to sign up for human challenge trials that will expose them to the virus in an effort to study the disease and develop a cure.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday that the state is now investigating about 100 cases of the Kawasaki disease-like syndrome. Three children have died.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, is warning Congress and the nation of what he calls "really serious” consequences of suffering, death and deeper economic damage if state and local officials lift stay-at-home orders too quickly.
Dr. Beth Cameron, who is currently vice president of global biology programs at the Nuclear Threat Initiative, was previously a senior director in the White House pandemic office under the National Security Council.
Under 1% of Major League Baseball employees tested positive for antibodies to COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus. Results were based on 5,603 completed records from employees of 26 clubs.
From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, these are the top stories that moved markets and had investors, business leaders, and entrepreneurs talking this week on Cheddar.
Marketers use a linguistic science called ‘Sound Symbolism’ to aid in naming brands and products. The science focuses on the sounds of words and how they can affect how people perceive a word. Join Cheddar as we examine just how brand names come to be formed and if a brand by any other name is just as lucrative.
The Trump administration has shelved a set of detailed documents created by the nation’s top disease investigators meant to give step-by-step advice to local leaders deciding when and how to reopen public places during the still-raging pandemic.
