Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack

Some school districts are protesting newly proposed U.S. Department of Agriculture nutrition guidelines for school meals as being too expensive and impractical, The San Diego Union-Tribune reports. The regulations were developed by the USDA to implement the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act, which aims to improve the quality of meals served to students in the nation’s cafeterias.

The USDA’s proposed regulations would update nutrition standards for meals served through the National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs for the first time in 15 years. Set to go into effect in the 2013-14 school year, the rules add more fruit, vegetables and whole grains to cafeteria menus.

During the the hearings of the House subcommittee on Early Childhood Education, representatives from school districts around the country criticized the proposed guidelines for placing additional burdens on schools in a year when many are facing extensive fiscal difficulties. The cost of complying with the regulations could go as high as $6.8 billion, with $4.1 billion of that covering the additional expense of school breakfasts. The federal government will provide only $1.6 billion in additional funding on implementation, so many districts will be forced to raise meal prices to cover the rest. Even though the meal reimbursement rates to school districts will go up by about 6 cents per meal, according to Diane Pratt-Heavner, spokesman for the School Nutrition Association, the lunch prices could still go up by 15 cents while breakfast could become nearly 51 cents more expensive if the new rules go into effect.

In addition, some critics pointed out that the new restrictions on starches and salt content will make it difficult to produce meals that meet the standard and still be delicious enough for students to enjoy. Sally Spero, San Diego Unified School District’s food planning supervisor said:

“I know this is well-intended. I’m concerned about unintended consequences: That schools would stop serving breakfast because it would be too expensive, or that kids would stop eating lunch because it doesn’t taste good.”

But at the time when one out of three American children is overweight or obese, the Obama administration believes it’s important to strengthen the nutritional standards of school meals. In January, when the rules were first announced, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack pointed out that many students get up to half of their daily calories at school, and therefore new rigorous nutritional standards are an important step in combating childhood obesity.