School lunch
The conservative House Freedom Caucus wants Donald Trump to "rethink" restrictions imposed on food served in public schools within the first 100 days from taking office.

The caucus posted a list of hundreds of regulations and rules the president-elect should consider eliminating or modifying after he's sworn in as the president of the United States Jan. 20, including the Healthy and Hunger Free Kids Act championed by first lady Michelle Obama.

The caucus lists the act among its "recommended list of regulations to remove" from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

"The rules are hallmarks of the Obama administration, but kids aren't eating the foods, industries can't comply with the standards, and schools are wasting money," according to the document, First 100 Days: Rules, Regulations, and Executive Orders to Examine, Revoke, and Issue.

Students across the country have revolted against the first lady's effort to fight childhood obesity through government bureaucracy with parody videos online, school lunch boycotts and pictures of their gruesome, unidentifiable lunches posted online with the hashtag #ThanksMichelleObama.

Since the restrictions on calories, fat, sugar, sodium, whole grains, fruits and vegetables went into effect in 2012, more than 1.2 million students have stopped eating school lunches altogether. Whole schools also dropped out of the National School Lunch Program because the cost of complying with the changes exceeds federal subsidies.Meanwhile, requirements in the law that all students take a fruit or vegetable, whether they want it or not, has created massive amounts of food waste that have forced some schools to come up with creative ways to get rid of the garbage.

Some schools have fed the lunch leftovers to pigs and other animals at local farms, while others have implemented composting programs to deal with the issue, EAGnews reports.

According to The Huffington Post:
It's unclear whether the GOP-led Congress would support loosening school lunch standards, which have traditionally enjoyed bipartisan support. It's also uncertain whether the conservative lawmakers want to gut the program's nutritional standards or change them.

The caucus wants a "rethinking" of the $12.7 billion lunch program and associated breakfast program, Ben Williamson, a spokesman for Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), the caucus chairman, said in an email. He cited a 2015 Congressional Budget Office report as evidence the program may "run the risk of becoming insolvent."
"Under current law, the Congressional Budget Office projects, spending (on school meals) would rise to about $31 billion in nominal dollars by 2025. Adjusted for expected inflation, that value represents an increase of 26 percent over 2014 spending," according to the report.

Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, told the Post school officials and others have raised legitimate complaints, but alleges the effort to "rethink" school meals is driven by a "purely political anti-government sentiment."

A flood of folks on online, meanwhile, are calling on President-elect Trump to follow through with campaign promises to cut unnecessary regulations and are hoping he'll "Make School Lunches Great Again."

"#thanksmichelleobama," Dylan Simpson posted to Twitter with a picture of his unappetizing school nachos. "@realDonaldTrump fix this."

"Kids all over the US are very hopeful and excited about 'Making School Lunches Great Again,'" Jerry Morla tweeted. "#MAGA #MAGA3X #ThanksMichelleObama."

"@realDonaldTrump PLEASE fix #ThanksMichelleObama school lunches," user Grumpy Old Man added. "No one wants to eat that crap. #MAGA!"

"Hopefully kids in a Trump admin will be able to eat again," Eddie G wrote.