PROPOSED SCHOOL LUNCH RULES OFFER SCHOOLS NEW MENU OPTIONS
                                                               
                                            Release No. 0198.98

                                   Laura Trivers (202) 720-4623
                                         laura.trivers@usda.gov
                                  Darlene Barnes (703) 305-2286
                                    darlene_barnes@fcs.usda.gov

PROPOSED SCHOOL LUNCH RULES OFFER SCHOOLS NEW MENU OPTIONS

     WASHINGTON, May 4, 1998--The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced
that schools will have greater flexibility in meeting the nutritional
requirements for the School Breakfast and Lunch Programs under a proposed rule
released today.

     Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman said the proposal will establish
guidelines that allow schools to use "any reasonable approach" to meet updated
nutrition standards established for the programs in 1995 and 1996.

     "This is one more step toward ensuring that our children have the best
possible meals at school," Glickman said.  "Local school authorities have
always made the decisions about the meals they serve, but these proposed
regulations will allow them to find creative and innovative ways to provide
nutritious meals that the kids will like."

     USDA updated nutritional standards for school meals in 1995, requiring
schools to meet the recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans,
and schools were given several different menu planning options to help them
meet the new requirements.  Congress subsequently passed the Healthy Meals for
Children Act of 1996, which added additional options, including allowing
schools to use "any reasonable approach" to meet the new standards.

     Shirley Watkins, under secretary for food, nutrition, and consumer
services, said the proposed regulations are intended to provide local meal
planners with maximum flexibility.

     "Schools now can plan their meals using sophisticated computer software,
or they can use the traditional meal pattern, or under these new rules they
can propose some new way that none of us has thought of before," Watkins said. 
"Any reasonable approach means just that--we want to hear what the schools
think.."

     Watkins said schools that propose major modifications to current menu
planning practices will need to get approval in advance from their State
agency and must continue to meet nutritional standards and other basic program
requirements.

     "I have worked in the school food service business for more than 20
years," Watkins said, "and I know that the people who run these programs for
the children are dedicated and imaginative.  They are going to come to us with
some great new ideas."

The proposed regulation was published in today's Federal Register.

Comments on the proposed rule will be accepted for the next 180 days and
should be sent to: Robert M. Eadie, Chief, Policy and Program Development
Branch, Child Nutrition Division, Food and Nutrition Service, USDA, 3101 Park
Center Drive, Alexandria, Va., 22302, or via the Internet at
CNDProposal@fcs.usda.gov.  All written submissions will be available for
public inspection in Room 1007, 3101 Park Center Drive, Alexandria, Va., from
8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

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