Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the Trump administration is moving to dramatically overhaul school lunches by eliminating ultra-processed foods, which he blamed for fueling the nation’s childhood obesity epidemic.
Speaking Monday on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle,” Kennedy characterized the widespread consumption of ultra-processed foods by American children as “mass poisoning” and pointed to the sharp increase in childhood obesity over the past several decades.
“You know, as you said, when my uncle was president, 3% of American kids were obese,” Kennedy said. “And he was also so alarmed with that, because it was double what the European numbers were. And he launched the Presidential Council on Physical Fitness. Today, 20% of the — of kids are obese and, you know, many more of them are overweight. Seventy-seven percent of our kids can’t qualify for military service. And it’s not because they suddenly became indolent or hungry or lazy. It’s because we’ve been mass poisoning them with ultra-processed foods.”
Kennedy said new school nutrition rules will seek to reverse that trend by removing ultra-processed foods from school meals and changing what children are routinely served. He said the administration intends to emphasize protein and whole grains while eliminating refined grains and replacing fruit juice with actual fruit.
He continued, “The new rules are going to get rid of 70% of the calories that our kids take today are ultra-processed foods. That is why the obesity crisis is happening. We’re getting rid of that with the new school lunch program. We’re getting rid of ultra-processed foods. We’re putting protein at the center of the plate. We’re getting rid of the refined grains and putting in whole grain. We’re getting rid of the fruit juices, which they’ve been using to substitute instead of feeding them actual fruit. And then we’re also — my agency is adding to this, adding to what Brooke’s putting in, $32 million to help these schools bring back their kitchens, and to do other things. You know, it’s a one-time grant to schools who start cooking from scratch again, like we saw when we were kids.”
{Matzav.com}
