House delays vote on school lunch bill; Democrats say Republicans realize they're on losing side

House Republicans may have bitten off more than they can chew with the controversial proposal to let schools losing money on their lunch programs have "a year-long reprieve from requirements to serve more fresh produce, more whole grains and less sugar, trans fat and salt," Carolyn Lochhead reports for the San Francisco Chronicle. "Democrats suspect that the delay indicates Republicans may have unexpectedly concluded they're on the losing side of the school-lunch fight, which has touched off a firestorm in Washington and across the country." (Chronicle photo: Students eating healthy in Novato, Calif.)

The chief opponent of the legislation is First Lady Michelle Obama, who called it unacceptable when it was approved by a subcommittee, then after the House Appropriations Committee passed the bill urged parents to get involved to ensure their children eat healthy. Food suppliers have argued that meeting increasingly lower limits on sodium will be hard to achieve. Wednesday, she hosted a group of health reporters at the White House to press her case.

Rep. Sam Farr of Carmel, Calif., the top Democrat on the agriculture appropriations subcommittee, told Lochhead, "I think they pulled the bill because they didn't know if they had enough of their own votes. Members go home, they pick up from the newspapers the feedback of what's happening in Washington, and I think the longer this issue is on front pages the more difficulty they have in passing their provision."

Under the current rules, "children are required to take at least one serving of a fruit or vegetable with their lunch," Lochhead writes. "The rules were passed by Congress in 2010 and championed by the first lady as a key part of her campaign to end childhood obesity in a generation." (Read more)