ObamaFood: Fattening Government to Fight Obesity

[Geee]

Pajamas Media:

The child nutrition bill signed into law by President Obama on Dec. 13 has been touted as essential to combating the “epidemic” of childhood obesity.

It is also a welfare expansion, adding $4.5 billion to the cost of school lunches.

Despite the additional six cents per meal which will be paid to the schools, critics say it amounts to an unfunded mandate which could bankrupt schools.

Speaking to Pajamas Media on condition of anonymity, one head of food service for a Kansas school district said the law’s reimbursement already falls short of the actual cost of putting food on the table — forcing food service to draw annually from the district general fund at a time when most districts in Kansas have taken budget cuts of 10 percent or more. Just over the past year and a half, Kansas districts have lost a grand total of $303 million. Plus, federal law prohibits food service programs from going into the red, so school districts have no choice but to pay. And food and energy costs are rising.

“It’s the government starting to micromanage,” said the food service head. “It’s going to cost more money and take more staff, and districts don’t get enough as it is.”