save the children

finally! it took over a decade.

the national school lunch program feeds approximately 30 million students each day. the usda requested the institute of medicine convene a committee to review the appropriate nutritional guidelines. the institute of medicine reports

The recommendations are to reflect new developments in nutrition science, increase the availability of key food groups in the school meal programs, and allow these programs to better meet the nutritional needs of children, foster healthy eating habits, and safeguard children’s health.

the first phase of the report was released in mid december 2008. you can download the report for free (though they require you to enter your email address to do so). i warn you - it is 193 pages and phase 1 simply identifies how the committee is going to determine the nutrition standards for the national school breakfast and lunch programs. they are, however, requesting public comments on their approach outlined in phase 1 via email until Jan 31 2009. the final committee meeting will be help jan 28 2009 in washington dc. it appears that the final report with recommended guidelines will not be released until late 2009 or 2010. does it really take that long? anyways.

i am fairly skeptical about this report, as it is being funded by the usda and i do not think they can be trusted. they receive too much money from various lobbyists and interest groups and much of their guidelines have been established in controversy (read diet for a dead planet by christopher cook). but, i am trying to be hopeful.