Ben Carson Calls Hot Dogs Fresh School Food as USDA Unveils $50 Million Lunch Plan
Updated
Updated · The Independent · Aug 25
Ben Carson Calls Hot Dogs Fresh School Food as USDA Unveils $50 Million Lunch Plan
3 articles · Updated · The Independent · Aug 25
Summary
At a Monday USDA event, Trump nutrition adviser Ben Carson urged children to try food “fresh from the ground” and then cited “fresh sweet corn and hot dogs,” drawing laughter.
Carson made the remark while promoting the new Harvest to Hallways initiative, part of the administration’s Make America Healthy Again agenda to steer schools toward locally grown, healthier meals.
The program includes a $50 million investment in school cafeterias, including up to $25 million in grants for schools to buy local food and funding for new kitchen equipment.
The comment undercut an anti-ultra-processed-food message already strained by earlier Trump-official missteps on affordable healthy eating, even as packed school lunches now cost more than $6.
Will a multi-million dollar push for farm-fresh school lunches actually improve student health, or simply drive meal prices higher for struggling families?
What hidden logistical hurdles prevent local farmers from directly supplying fresh, healthy produce to the millions of students eating school lunches every day?
How can schools serve farm-fresh agricultural produce when many local cafeterias lack the basic kitchen equipment needed to cook raw ingredients?