Latest from Food Politics: Who is lobbying about the forthcoming school food rules?

If you want to know why school food is so controversial, and improving its nutrition quality is so difficult, follow the money. A reader, Jennifer Windh, says she is a mom of a second grader in Texas (Tomball School District) and a member of “Make ...

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By Marion Nestle September 15 2026 Who is lobbying about the forthcoming school food rules? If you want to know why school food is so controversial, and improving its nutrition quality is so difficult, follow the money. A reader, Jennifer Windh, says she is a mom of a second grader in Texas (Tomball School District) and a member of “Make Texans Healthy Again.”  She tells me she asked ChatGPT to summarize information about food lobbying on the new school food rules: I’ve been tracking USDA’s forthcoming proposed rule updating the Child Nutrition Programs to align with the 2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (RIN 0584-AF17). USDA sent the proposed rule to the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) for review on July 20, and USDA’s regulatory agenda currently targets publication in September. While the proposed rule itself is not yet public, OIRA’s public meeting records give us some clues about what may be under consideration. Outside groups can request meetings with OIRA while a significant regulation is under review, and OIRA publishes the identity of the groups, attendees, and materials they submit. Much applause to Jennifer for digging into who is pushing OIRA about food and nutrition standards for school meals. Date Organization Key Participants / Interests Documents Submitted Aug. 10 USA Rice Tracy Gensler; Cameron Jacobs USA Rice Proposed School Meal Nutrition Standards Final OMB Aug. 11 American Bakers Association Campbell Genn; Eric Dell; Rasma Zvaners; others None listed Aug. 13 American Frozen Food Institute AFFI; Schwan’s; Wyman’s; Wawona Frozen Foods; Conagra; J.M. Smucker 3 documents concerning smoothies/frozen foods Aug. 14 National CACFP Association McKenzie Brunner; Alexia Thex CACFP Alignment and Reality of Implementing 2025–2030 DGAs Sept. 1 Plant Powered School Meals Coalition Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine; Alexandria City Public Schools; Plant Powered School Meals Coalition 5 documents concerning meat/MMA requirements, nondairy milk, processed meat, and related issues Sept. 2 School Nutrition Association SNA; Caprock Strategies None confirmed Sept. 3 The Grain Chain Campbell Genn None confirmed Sept. 4 Urban School Food Alliance Urban School Food Alliance; OFW Law None confirmed Sept. 8 TBD Meeting occurred/scheduled; full organization and participant information needs confirmation TBD Sept. 11 – 2:00 p.m. ET TBD OIRA meeting on USDA school-food rule TBD Sept. 11 – 2:30 p.m. ET Meat Institute appears to be requestor Susan Backus listed as requestor; final OIRA participant list pending TBD The table does not say what these participants were asking for, but let’s speculate.  The new dietary guidelines call for more real food, less highly processed food, and less sugar, but more protein, healthy fats, and whole milk dairy. The trade associations want the USDA to require meals to have more of their products: rice, bread (not too much whole wheat), frozen foods, grains (preferably not whole), and meat. The National CACFP (Child and Adult Care Food Program) Association advocates for this desperately underfunded program and surely is asking for more funding to comply with new DGA standards. The Plant Powered groups want more plant foods and less meat and dairy. The Urban School Food Alliance works with school districts to provide healthy food to low-income kids.  I’ll bet it’s asking for more funding too. Of special interest is the position of the School Nutrition Association, which supposedly represents school food service workers. It is heavily sponsored by food companies.   Its position on forthcoming rules is that Any new rules limiting UPFs in schools must ensure meal programs are permitted to serve nutrient-dense, pre-prepared foods. Schools are simply not equipped to scratch prepare all menu items – more than 93% cited the need for more staff, culinary training, equipment and infrastructure to reduce reliance on UPFs. To see what attempts to improve the nutritional quality of school meals are up against, take a look at the SNA’s talking points defending highly processed snack foods as well as sugary foods. As it happens, a new analysis shows that basically all snack foods sold in schools are ultra-processed. The big questions: Will the calls for less ultra-processed food and sugar survive this kind of lobbying opposition? Will school meals get enough funding to do what the guidelines call for? I can’t wait to find out. The post Who is lobbying about the forthcoming school food rules? appeared first on Food Politics by Marion Nestle      Related Posts The Cyclospora outbreak: an everyone-is-at-fault system failure: “LettuceGate” Oops. District Court in DC says USDA’s state SNAP waivers are illegal SNAP waivers: bad for business?   Now Available: What to Eat Now My new book, What to Eat Now, is officially out! It's both a field guide to food shopping in America and a reflection on how to eat well—and deliciously. For more information and to order, click here. You can explore the full archive of this (almost) daily blog at foodpolitics.com, where you'll also find information about my books, articles, media interviews, upcoming lectures, favorite resources, and FAQs. Visit the Site » ​​​​​​​ Marion Nestle Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University, Emerita © Marion Nestle. You're receiving this email because you've signed up to receive updates from us. If you'd prefer not to receive updates, you can unsubscribe. Safely Unsubscribe • Archives • Preferences • Contact • Subscribe • Privacy

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