USDA to Revamp School Lunches Under New Dietary Guidelines

With the new US dietary guidelines announced, USDA Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, talks about what role her agency plays.

“Now we begin the process of implementing and redrafting the rules to reflect what this new dietary guidelines for Americans actually is doing to our food system. The school lunch is often the best place for our children to get the healthiest meal. The single most important from my perspective, move forward is the school lunches and making sure that we're getting the right amount, the best amount, the most nutrient-dense foods into the schools.”

Rolllins says the challenge is access to healthy food, particularly in food desert communities.

“We have a longer-term important policy priority, and that is getting grocery stores into these lower-margin communities, but for now, requiring those retailers, those 250,000 retailers across America, to double their stocking of healthier foods, that will allow us to immediately get these better foods into the into into all communities, but especially the most vulnerable.”

USDA, Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, the new guidelines encourages Americans to build diets around protein sources, including red meat, dairy, fruits, and vegetables, while steering clear of added sugars and ultra-processed foods. Under the new framework, the traditional pyramid is flipped, and instead of discouraging fat, the updated version promotes healthy fats.