The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Members of the School Nutrition Association (SNA) testified Wednesday before the U.S. House of Representatives' Education and Labor Committee that rising food prices are severely impeding the federal school lunch program's ability to provide low-cost, healthy meals, the Associated Press reports. The program requires school lunches to meet strict nutrition guidelines for fresh fruit, vegetables and whole grains. However, higher fuel prices, compounded by the increased demand for corn-based ethanol and the weakened dollar, have made it difficult for most schools to meet those requirements without raising prices.