The Trump administration will invest more than $100 million into school lunch initiatives across the country, the White House said Monday.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture and Department of Health and Human Services said it would fund research initiatives, equipment upgrades and local farm grants for schools around the nation. The administration also will work to implement new dietary guidelines for school lunch programs.
USDA will invest $50 million in school cafeteria infrastructure in an effort to purchase new stoves, fridges and freezers for schools across the country, adding onto more than $20 million already invested. The USDA also announced $25 million in funds for school districts to incorporate locally sourced foods.
“We are connecting schools with the farmers and ranchers in their own communities, investing in kitchens and equipment school nutritional professionals need to prepare real food,” USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins said.
HHS will also fund more than $30 million in research toward implementing the administration’s new dietary guidelines in school lunch programs. Rollins said 30 million school lunches and 15 million school breakfasts are served across the country daily.
“We will study what works from upgrading school kitchens, expanding scratch cooking, to reducing added sugars, ultra processed foods, and to build up the labor that schools across the country can then replicate,” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said.
In January, the Trump administration unveiled its Dietary Guidelines for Americans, a federal framework for food recommendations that will remain in place until 2030. The guidelines determine what kinds of foods should be prioritized in the federal food assistance program, prison system, veterans meals, active duty military and school lunches across the country.
The guidelines recommend daily servings of 1.2-1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight, three servings of vegetables, two servings of fruit and 2-4 servings of whole grains each day.
The previous guidelines recommended six cups of grains, three cups of dairy, 2.5 cups of vegetables, two cups of fruit and 5.5 cups of “protein foods” per day.
“It includes healthier cooking methods, whole food breakfast options, 100% whole grains, whole fruit, and whole milk,” Rollins said in a news conference. “This will be a significant and transformative action.”
Ben Carson, National Nutrition Advisor at the Agriculture Department, praised the administration’s moves to incentivize the new dietary guidelines. He said the investments will lead to long term brain development in schoolchildren.
“We want to produce young people who are smart,” Carson said. “Who have the kind of brains that will allow America to continue to excel and to be an example in the world.”
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen joined administration officials for the announcement. Sanders called on private companies to invest in the government’s initiatives expanding access to school lunches that follow the federal government’s guidelines.
“This is not going to be something that works if the government is the only one involved,” Sanders said. “It will require a partnership across the public sector, the private sector, the nonprofit sector, and individual homes.”
Tyson Foods announced it would invest $1 million over the next two years to support the Trump administration’s school lunches push.
“We all want to see our kids thrive, and we believe that a healthier future is within reach for all American children,” Rollins said. “It’s within reach because our farmers grow and raise to have the healthiest food, the best food in the world and the path to that future starts at USDA, at HHS, and across our entire administration.”
