‘Leave the chocolate milk out of this’: School cooks, parents, kids push back on USDA effort to make lunches healthier

WASHINGTON — The feds are coming for your kids’ chocolate milk.

At least, so says the stampede of school cooks, administrators, and parents flooding the Department of Agriculture with complaints. They’re “targeting” kids, forcing them to “go thirsty,” and are being “just mean,” they’ve cried.

The anger was prompted by a February proposal from the USDA aimed at making school meals healthier by limiting the amount of added sugar and sodium in breakfasts and lunches. The USDA reimburses schools for a portion of nearly every meal they provide, which gives it some say over what foods schools offer.

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