Proposed school lunch changes draw opposition from farm states

From The New York Times: Proposed changes in nutritional standards for school lunches — the first in 15 years to the $11 billion federal program — are meant to reduce rising childhood obesity, Agriculture Department officials say. Food companies that have a huge stake in the new guidelines and others argue that the more stringent guidelines would raise the cost of meals and call for food that too many children just will not eat. With some nutrition experts rallying to the Obama administration’s side, the battle over the changes is shaping up as a complicated fight involving lawmakers from farm states and low-income urban areas that rely on the program, which fed some 30 million children last year with free or subsidized meals. Food companies have spent more than $5.6 million so far lobbying against the proposed rules.