WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts and those concerned with school nutrition today won a decisive victory against the Obama Administration’s regulatory overreach when USDA issued a final rule eliminating troublesome National School Lunch Program restrictions that were leaving active students hungry.

“This has been a battle for common sense in the cafeteria,” Senator Roberts said. “These guidelines were leaving students hungry throughout the school day and athletic events, in the end we were able to convince USDA to listen to reason.”

Following considerable public outcry in Kansas, including Wallace County High School’s “We are Hungry” viral video protesting the new restrictions, Roberts fought and won flexibility for local school districts in implementing the rules. Roberts sent letters to the Administration and helped introduce legislation to roll back the restrictions. From his post as a senior member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture Nutrition and Forestry, Roberts also sought information on waste and costs of the new regulations.

Today’s announcement by the USDA to permanently end the first ever maximum caloric limits for meats and grains is evidence the rules were not meeting the needs of active students, especially student athletes.

-30-