Video protests govt. calorie limits in school lunches
(CBS News) Michelle Obama has supported a plan that would reduce calories in school lunches. New federal guidelines, in line with Michelle Obama's health advocacy, went into effect at schools across the country. Among other measures, the guidelines limit calorie counts in public school lunches. Now there are some students who are creatively criticizing the new lunch regulations in a protest video they made is going viral.
The protest video called "We are Hungry," borrows the hit song "We Are Young," but wrote their own lyrics to give voice their complaints.
The YouTube video was produced by high school students and teachers in Kansas. It shows volleyball players collapsing and students stuffing their lockers with junk food. Their message: they're hungry.
Kansas Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R) said, "This is a great product of some small town students and their teachers."
Huelskamp is also concerned about new school lunch guidelines that limit calories in school meals; for kindergarten through 5th grade, the allotment is 650 calories, 6th to 8th grade is 700 calories and 9th to 12th is 850 calories.
Huelskamp said, "I think decisions about the lunchrooms should be made there, should be made with the parents and the school district, not some bureaucrat in Washington."
The new rules are the first major overhaul of school meals in 15 years, pushed by First Lady Michelle Obama. Schools also have to serve more fruits and vegetables, less processed food and less fat.
As she said a the kick-off of her "Let's Move" initiative, Michelle Obama's intention is to "dramatically improve the quality of the food we offer in schools."
Lise Gloede, a dietitian, said, "I don't think this can be a one-size-fits-all."
Gloede says there are a lot of good things about the guidelines, but the calorie caps may leave some students, particularly athletes, running on empty.
"They may be going to their after school sport activities hungry and that's a big problem," she said.
Protests aren't just coming from Kansas. In Wisconsin, students boycotted their school lunches. And Pennsylvania students used Twitter to encourage friends to brown-bag it.
The government argues there's no limit on second helpings of healthy fruits and vegetables and hungry students can often buy another meal or a la carte items.
Watch Sharyl Attkisson's full report in the video above.
