Feds: School lunches a 'national security issue'
It's safe to assume the Department of Agriculture's new rules and standards governing school lunches will be pretty harsh, considering the department's undersecretary for food, nutrition, and consumer services recently proclaimed childhood obesity to be "a national security issue."
"Obesity is not just a health issue," Kevin Concannon told National Review. "It is an economic and national security issue."
Following First Lady Michelle Obama's Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, the department has implemented a new Smart Snacks program, which forbids middle schools from providing students with "Gatorade, some tea drinks, lemonades, fruit punches, or caffeinated beverages."
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The kids aren't going to take it. As this week marks the first week back to school for many students across the county, Twitter has been inundated with angry adolescents complaining about "empty vending machines, soda-less drink choices, and the overall lack of junk food" with the hashtag #BringBackOurSnacks.
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