News on Policies regarding Food in Schools

Earlier this month representatives from Potatoes USA met with the School District of LaCrosse, Wisconsin to test school foodservice recipes with the K-12 experts themselves.

United States Potato Board President & CEO Blair Richardson surprised attendees at the POTATO EXPO 2015 with an industry challenge to install 3,000 potato-friendly salad bars in school lunch programs across the United States.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that under USDA's new "Smart Snacks in School"nutrition standards, America's students will be offered healthier food options during the school day.

Under pressure from lawmakers, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) has changed its school lunch requirements to allow more meats and grains. Several farm-state senators from both parties had been pushing USDA to change its school lunch requirements...

Calorie intake from white potatoes is surprisingly modest for adults and school-aged children, according to a new study released today at the Experimental Biology 2012 Annual Meeting.

The National Potato Council’s successful fight to return potatoes to school menu guidelines in the US was a victory for the industry, but executive vice-president and chief executive officer John Keeling isn’t stopping there.

Potatoes can be presented in kid-friendly ways and are nutritious to boot. Montana nutritionist and author Dayle Hayes showed a variety of potato dishes being served in U.S. schools to growers Wednesday at the Washington-Oregon Potato Conference.Kids l...

The nutritional value of potatoes will take center stage during the upcoming Washington-Oregon Potato Conference.

After eating a potato-plentiful lunch that she deemed both “delicious and nutritious,” U.S. Sen. Susan Collins was honored Monday afternoon for her work in assuring that schools across the nation are free to serve potatoes to students. During a lunche...

President Obama signed a government funding extension that included 2012 appropriations funding for USDA and five other agencies on Friday, November 18. The bill also included the bipartisan Senate amendment sponsored by Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) ...

As the US legislation regarding school meal programs makes is way through the various stages of the approval process, a new stage has been reached and the provision that prohibits the USDA to set limits to vegetables is preserved in the current text un...

AFFI President and CEO Kraig R. Naasz issued the following statement today in support of an amendment to a Senate agriculture appropriations bill that blocks the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) from limiting the amount of potatoes, corn, peas, li...

The Senate threw its support behind the potato Tuesday, voting to block an Obama administration proposal to limit the vegetable on school lunch lines. Agriculture Department rules proposed earlier this year aimed to reduce the amount of french fries i...

In a major victory, the United States Senate tonight unanimously approved a bipartisan amendment, authored by Senator Susan Collins, to the Fiscal Year 2012 Senate Agriculture Appropriations bill that would protect the flexibility of schools to serve h...

Sen. Susan Collins is a more gentle soul than your typical Republican Steering Committee regular, but there she was in the Capitol last week: Ms. Maine Moderate lunching with the “Sons of Jesse Helms” — all in the name of the potato. It was a jaw-drop...

Doris Demers, the nutrition program director for York and Kittery schools, had a blunt response today when asked about proposed federal guidelines limiting white potato servings as part of the federally funded school lunch program. "It's ridiculo...

Recently, The Salt had a chance to chat with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. He's held the top post at USDA since January 2009. As a former Iowa governor, he knows a thing or two about farm country and he's been open about his struggles with weight....

Research to be presented this week at The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) Conference in Washington, D.C., demonstrates that consumption of white potatoes (non-fried) by children does not displace other vegetables from children's meals.