Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas) has introduced a bill to keep the “federal food police” out of schools, taking aim at Obama administration nutrition standards applied to bake sales.
{mosads}Poe’s bill, H.R. 881, would prevent federal nutrition standards developed by the Department of Agriculture under a 2010 law championed by first lady Michelle Obama from being applied to school fundraisers.
“The federal food police need to stay out of our schools,” Poe said in a statement. “First, the regulators came into our lunchrooms, then vending machines and now school fundraisers.”
The nutrition standards, which limit the calories and fat in food sold in schools, including at fundraisers, have been controversial for some time. Poe has introduced legislation fighting the rules before.
There has been enough pushback that last summer, USDA Undersecretary Kevin Concannon wrote a blog post titled “Setting the Record Straight: Healthy School Meal Rules Allow for Bake Sales.”
He pointed out that states can choose to exempt themselves from the standards and allow any kind of food at bake sales if they want. The rules also only apply during the school day, so do not affect sales at events like sports games.
So far, 22 states have exemptions from the rules, The Associated Press reports. Texas, Poe’s state, is not one of those states.
“Washington bureaucrats have no business telling any American (no matter what age) what they can and cannot eat,” Poe said in the statement. “Not only is this rule an example of gross government overreach, it is also denying public schools funds for extra-curricular activities. Congress should not fund any efforts to implement this abuse of government power.”