{"id":167820,"date":"2026-05-15T11:54:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T17:24:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?p=167820"},"modified":"2026-05-15T11:54:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T17:24:07","slug":"the-maha-movement-is-coming-to-school-cafeterias-heres-what-that-means-for-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?p=167820","title":{"rendered":"The MAHA Movement is Coming to School Cafeterias. Here’s What That Means for Kids"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nYet many districts rely on processed, premade foods to feed their students, and protein is already the most expensive ingredient on the cafeteria plate, school nutrition experts say.<\/p>\n

This year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture\u2019s reimbursement rate for schools in the contiguous 48 states is about $4.60 per meal for a student who is eligible for a free lunch, according to the School Nutrition Association (SNA). The rate is $4.20 for students eligible for a reduced-price lunch and $0.44 for students who pay full price, SNA said.<\/p>\n

\"Budget
Budget concerns aside, the Great Valley School District is finding ways to enhance its meal program and get more students into the breakfast and lunch lines. (Rachel Wisniewski for NPR)<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Federal and state funding are the largest revenue streams in Taylor\u2019s district, and they help pay for everything from staff wages and kitchen equipment to food and utility costs. She said she supports the nutritional goals of the new federal standards but wonders how they\u2019ll affect schools already struggling to operate.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to follow the guidelines, because we are that voice that says, \u2018No, you can eat healthy and still eat really well,’\u201d Taylor said. \u201cBut we also have to be realistic and say we need the funding for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the same time, the Trump administration has cut funding programs that allowed schools to buy local food from farmers.<\/p>\n

How dietary guidelines can affect schools<\/h2>\n
\"Agriculture
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins on Jan. 8 announces new dietary guidelines, including an emphasis on proteins and full-fat dairy, as well as limits on processed foods. (Anna Moneymaker | Getty Images)<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said at a press conference for the updated guidelines<\/a> in January that she was particularly interested in how they could improve child nutrition.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, that is going to be the single most important, from my perspective, move forward \u2014 is the school lunches and making sure that we\u2019re getting the right amount, the best amount and the most nutrient-dense foods into the schools,\u201d Rollins said.<\/p>\n

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Yet some in the medical community have objected to the new food pyramid, specifically the placement of saturated fat sources such as red meat and full-fat dairy at the top. \u201cIt does go against decades and decades of evidence and research,\u201d Stanford University nutrition expert Christopher Gardner told NPR<\/a> this year. Gardner was a member of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee.<\/p>\n

Exactly how the government\u2019s new dietary guidelines will impact schools is unclear. The Department of Agriculture (USDA) said it is still working to update the nutrition standards it requires of institutions taking part in the National School Lunch Program, which fed 30 million children last year, and the School Breakfast Program. The department said in an email that the new guidelines are a \u201cpivotal step to Make America Healthy Again through real, nutrient-dense foods\u201d and that the guidelines\u2019 release \u201ckicks off a multi-year effort\u201d to update the rules of the department\u2019s nutrition programs through a formal rule-making process, which will include public comment.<\/p>\n

\"Schools
Schools in the federal meal programs are already beginning to reduce added sugar in certain items to align with new federal rules. (Rachel Wisniewski for NPR)<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mara Fleishman, CEO of the Chef Ann Foundation, which works to help schools cook more meals from scratch, applauded the move away from highly processed foods but said the shift wouldn\u2019t be easy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe conundrum is that often animal protein in school food is one of the most highly processed components,\u201d she said. Fleishman used chicken nuggets as an example, which she said appear in some form in just about every school district in the United States.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe primary chicken nuggets that are served come cooked frozen. So you get it cooked, you put it in your freezer, take it out, put it in the retherm [ovens], put it on the line. And it\u2019s got about 35 ingredients in it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Fleishman said districts that want to cook chicken strips from scratch could make them fresh using six or seven ingredients. \u201cBut it\u2019s hard, because you go from buying a chicken nugget, which is totally contained,\u201d to having to consider the financial, labor and waste implications of cooking it from scratch, she said.<\/p>\n

USDA cut funding that helped schools buy local food<\/h2>\n

At the same time as the Trump administration is urging Americans to eat more \u201creal\u201d food, it has cut funding that enabled schools to buy from local farmers.<\/p>\n

In March of last year, the School Nutrition Association reported<\/a> that the USDA ended the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program (LFS), erasing an estimated $660 million in funding. LFS provided money that schools could use to buy \u201cunprocessed or minimally processed foods, such as meat, poultry, fruit, vegetables, seafood, and dairy\u201d from local or regional producers, according to the program\u2019s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a big loss,\u201d said Stephanie Dillard, SNA president and the nutrition director of an Alabama school district, \u201cbecause we lost the money we could spend on local farmers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The USDA said in an emailed statement that the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program \u2014 as well as the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA), which supports feeding programs such as food banks \u2014 are being \u201csunsetted at the end of their performance periods.\u201d<\/p>\n

The department said that it released more than half a billion dollars in funding through the two programs last year and that, as of March, $100 million remained in LFPA funding and more than $17 million remained in LFS funding for states to use.<\/p>\n

\"Great
Great Valley School District students eat lunch in their cafeteria. Cafeteria staff sometimes make vegetarian entrees upon request. (Rachel Wisniewski for NPR)<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The USDA also paused funding from the Patrick Leahy Farm to School grant program for the 2025 fiscal year, which a spokesperson said was in response to Trump\u2019s executive order<\/a> targeting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs in January 2025.<\/p>\n

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However, the program reopened for the 2026 fiscal year and offered up to $18 million in awards. The department said it \u201cstreamlined the Farm to School Grant application process and removed Biden-era DEI components to ensure equal treatment, not preferential treatment, of applicants.\u201d Rollins said in a statement that the grants are \u201cone of the best ways we can deliver nutritious, high-quality meals to children, while also strengthening local agriculture.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schools have long called for more money for meals<\/h2>\n

For years, education administrators and child nutrition advocates have been saying that school cafeterias \u2014 often called the biggest restaurants in town \u2014 operate on tight budgets due in part to inadequate reimbursements from the federal government. Federal initiatives such as the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program provide billions of dollars in funding each year to schools across the U.S. to keep their meal programs afloat.<\/p>\n

Reimbursement rates are adjusted annually based on the consumer price index, but school nutrition directors say that the increases are not enough and that Congress needs to revisit the reimbursement formula altogether, as meal programs become more expensive to operate.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt all comes down to funding,\u201d said Dillard, of the SNA. \u201cThe sky would be the limit if we had the funding. We could cook all day long.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Taylor,
Taylor, of the Great Valley School District, said students have given feedback on menu changes. (Rachel Wisniewski for NPR)<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In an SNA survey<\/a> released in January, nearly 95% of school nutrition directors said they were concerned about the financial sustainability of their programs three years from now.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe current reimbursement rate isn\u2019t even quite enough for the current status quo,\u201d said Jennifer Gaddis, a University of Wisconsin-Madison associate professor of civil society and community studies who studies school food systems, \u201clet alone to do the holistic transformation that we need in order to make school meals really important engines of public health and economic vitality in our communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additionally, Gaddis said, the heat-and-serve model of the past allowed schools to spend less money by hiring fewer workers for shorter shifts. Preparing meals from scratch would require workers to be present longer and kitchens to be equipped for cooking.<\/p>\n

Many school meal programs receive state funding in addition to federal dollars, but the amounts vary. According to SNA<\/a>, nine states have dedicated state funds to provide universal free school meals.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf a kid is hungry, they\u2019re not studying\u201d<\/h2>\n

Despite the budget and logistical constraints, more schools are finding ways to expand their efforts to cook meals from scratch.<\/p>\n

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The Chef Ann Foundation, for example, offers an online database of recipes and guides for districts that want to prepare fresher meals, as well as apprenticeships, fellowships and other programs for nutritional staff.<\/p>\n

The Great Valley School District hired a chef in December to help source more local ingredients, expand the district\u2019s freshly prepared offerings and train staff members on new kitchen skills. Jenifer Halin, the district\u2019s new culinary coordinator, said she found frozen, precut vegetables in the cafeteria kitchen when she arrived. \u201cAnd I have already transitioned everybody over to cutting fresh vegetables. It\u2019s been simple.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Culinary
Culinary coordinator Jenifer Halin has been expanding the Great Valley School District\u2019s freshly prepared offerings and training staff members on new kitchen skills. (Rachel Wisniewski for NPR)<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Taylor, the district\u2019s supervisor of food and nutrition services, has even tried to reformulate some of those meals suggested by students to meet federal nutrition standards, and she said she still hopes to cook more meals from scratch, which would mean giving more staff members full-time status and culinary training. (The cost of cheaper raw ingredients might make the overall financial math even out, she said.)<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be able to offer our students our own muffins, our own French toast sticks,\u201d Taylor said, standing in Great Valley High School\u2019s walk-in freezer next to boxes of frozen chicken breasts and banana chocolate chip breakfast bars. \u201cI want to be able to produce our own pizza, so that we\u2019re not having to buy out from other vendors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her efforts have not gone unnoticed by the students.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt started with like one day randomly they had this grilled cheese and tomato bisque, and it was like ancient-grain bread, and everyone was like, \u2018It tasted like Panera,’\u201d said Varun Kartick, a Great Valley High School senior.<\/p>\n

More new dishes followed. Kartick, who doesn\u2019t eat pork or beef, said the vegetables have been fresher and the cafeteria staff often makes entrees vegetarian upon request. On a given day, he may opt for a seasonal chicken wrap or fill up a plate with pasta and vegetables.<\/p>\n

\"Sixth-grade
Sixth-grade students arrive for lunch in the cafeteria of the Great Valley 5\/6 Center. (Rachel Wisniewski for NPR)<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been very convenient and very nice to see that change, that we\u2019re not disgusted [by the food] or having to pack a lunch,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s an option that we can have at school.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among the items on offer in the cafeteria that day were pizza and chicken fingers, as well as avocado toast and a salad made with Pennsylvania sweet potatoes.<\/p>\n

Taylor said getting more students to eat breakfast and lunch at school would mean more federal reimbursements that could help her expand the district\u2019s nutrition program. But it would also ensure that \u2014 most importantly to her \u2014 more students are fed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf a kid is hungry, they\u2019re not studying. They can\u2019t learn. They\u2019re acting out,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cBut if you build this into part of their school day to where they feel like this is the norm for them, then you\u2019ve knocked down that hurdle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n