HOLT, Mich — The Trump administration released new federal dietary guidelines Wednesday that emphasize animal-source protein in every meal and discourage highly processed foods, changes that could impact school lunch programs nationwide.
New protein focus: Federal guidelines now emphasize animal-source protein in every meal while discouraging processed foods.Higher cost worries: Parents anticipate increased expenses as districts may need more protein-rich ingredients.Implementation pending: Schools await federal memo on changes, expected to start next school year.
The updated guidelines from the USDA recommend “high quality, nutrient-dense protein foods” in every meal while calling to avoid “highly processed packaged, prepared, or ready-to-eat foods.” These changes will be implemented across dozens of federal feeding programs, including school meals.
WATCH BELOW: New federal dietary guidelines: What does this mean for school lunches?
New federal dietary guidelines: What does this mean for school lunches?
“I think everyone should be having more fruits and vegetables and all those things,” said Rebecca Kasen, a mother of two.
However, Kasen expressed concerns about the cost implications of emphasizing more animal protein.
“Meat is expensive,” Kasen said. “In Michigan we are lucky that we have school lunch for all, though that’s not guaranteed every year. What about in other states though, are they going to have to raise the cost of school lunch?”
Evan Robertson, director of student dining services at Holt Public Schools, expects to see changes implemented in the next school year and said it could go either way, but they could increase costs.
“We have what’s called commodity dollars, which come from the federal government. Those dollars we use to buy food from the federal government, however, once we’re out of those dollars, if they don’t last all year, then we pay fair market value,” Robertson said.
Currently, school districts continue following previous guidelines called MyPlate until they receive a federal memo with steps to move forward under the new system.
Robertson explained how meals are currently structured: “You have to have at least three out of five components. The components are a grain, a meat or meat alternative, a fruit, vegetable, and milk.”
It remains unclear how these requirements might change under the new guidelines.
Despite cost concerns raised by parents, the administration says that eating healthy is actually less expensive.
“Eating healthy for the most part, we have a hundred simulations, is actually less expensive. The challenge is the access to those healthy foods,” according to the administration.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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