My last blog posed questions from a reader regarding the information Trent mentioned that he had in his hands while interviewing Secretary of Ag Tom Vilsack. I thought it may be of interest to others, as well, so I asked Trent if he could provide me with copies of the information. He was on the ball with his reply – THANK YOU, Trent!!

The paper Trent was referring to having in his hands was included in the final rule published in the Federal Register on January 26, 2012.

Loos:

“With that said, I’m holding in my hands a piece of paper that says is the final rule with the nutrition standards for the national school lunch and school breakfast programs which was actually released January 2012. Even though you tell me it’s not the culture at USDA, to go milk- meat- and egg-free, it certainly is present throughout everything that I see, particularly I’ll just emphasize a few things and allow you to expand upon them. Protein in breakfast is non-existent, we’re capping calories at 500 for K-5, 550 for 6-8 and 9-12 capping calories at 600, but 100% of those calories are to come from fruits, and grains which would be sugars and starches.”

Final Rule Nutrition Standards in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs – Jan. 2012
Breakfast Meal Pattern Lunch Meal Pattern

Vilsack:

“I don’t know what you’re reading, but that’s not accurate…. I don’t have it in front of me, but there’s no way that that’s basically…I know what the meal plans are, and I know what the rules are. And the rules basically provide for so many ounces of protein and so many slices of whole-grain bread and so many servings of fruit and vegetables … it’s a balanced approach.”

The other information Trent was talking about was the study published in the European Journal of Nutrition “Study dismisses obesity, high-fat dairy link”

Trent:

“I want to address two things before we run out of time… We had a tremendous study published last week in the European Journal of Nutrition looking at high-fat dairy products. And after they looked at 70 different studies they concluded that kids who consumed low-fat dairy products had the highest body fat content, kids who consumed the high-fat dairy products had the lowest body content, and my over-all concern, Secretary, is that we have eliminated fat, we’ve eliminated the essential fat because not all fat is bad, and if you look at this dietary guideline, it looks like all of the components of healthy living leading to proper brain function have been eliminated from the diets of our school lunch program. It appears as though we’re formulating our school nutrition program to meet the requirements of the 1/3 of the kids that are overweight, and 2/3 of the kids are going to suffer the consequences.”

Vilsack:

“Well, that’s absurd. And we base our nutrition programs on studies done by American physicians and doctors and scientists… the Institute of Medicine basically is the basis upon which these nutrition standards were established and I don’t have any idea what the study you’re alluding to but I will tell you that what we have done has been based on the best science and the best medical advice available.”

One last item. Trent talks about the amount of protein the USDA’s 1995 study indicates the recommended amount of protein per kilogram of body weight.

“Well, I’m looking at USDA’s study in 1995 by Wayne Campbell, indicating that kids and adults should be at 1 to 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight, so I don’t think it follows that.”

Click here to read his article that was published in the High Plains Journal.

The final link I have for you to review is the USDA’s Nutrition Standards in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs ruling which was published in the Federal Register January 26, 2012.

“SUMMARY: This final rule updates the meal patterns and nutrition standards for the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs to align them with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. This rule requires most schools to increase the availability of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free and low-fat fluid milk in school meals; reduce the levels of sodium, saturated fat and trans fat in meals; and meet the nutrition needs of school children within their calorie requirements. These improvements to the school meal programs, largely based on recommendations made by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, are expected to enhance the diet and health of school children, and help mitigate the childhood obesity trend.”

Sounds good… BUT MY KIDS ARE HUNGRY!

PS…check out Stephen Guyenet’s blog – Whole Health Source