(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa House has passed a bill that would bypass some federal nutrition guidelines for meals served in Iowa schools by getting a federal waiver to emphasize serving animal-based proteins as well as vegetables and fruits. Republican Representative Derek Wulf of Hudson says it’s a critical step to promote Iowa agriculture. “Nobody know nutrition and food better than us here. We’re the bread basket of America,” Wulf said. “…This is just getting back to common sense nutrition knowledge. Our kids are obviously not getting healthier in the past few years, so it’s time to do something drastically different.”

Representative Austin Baeth, a Democrat from Des Moines, says the bill flips the evidence-based food pyramid on its head. “This bill makes Iowa kids guinea pigs,” Baeth said. “…From what we know about nutrition, this is not healthier. This is a hand out to an industry at the expense of the health of our children.” Representative Jeff Shipley, a Republican from Birmingham, says Iowans should set school lunch guidelines.

“The USDA is a big problem when it comes to school nutrition,” Shipley said. “And, yeah, we appreciate their money, but the rules just don’t make sense and they’re out of date and they’re obsolete.” Representative Sami Scheetz, a Democrat from Cedar Rapids, says the legislature should be voting to provide free school lunches to every student. “I think it’s critically important that we first ensure that every kid in this state will be eating a lunch before we start messing with what’s inside of it,” Scheetz said.

Scheetz says current federal law prohibits the U-S-D-A from allowing changes in the nutritional content of school meals and Iowa risks losing 160 million dollars in federal funding for school lunches if the bill becomes law.