Dive Brief:

• At her annual garden harvest Thursday, First Lady Michelle Obama promised that the healthier school lunch standards she has championed would not be limited by Congress without a fight.
• A bill to be voted on by the U.S. House of Representatives would let schools opt out of the federal nutrition requirements if they show six months of monetary loss on their meal programs, thought the White House has promised to veto the measure should it also make it through the Senate.
• Mrs. Obama cited school lunches as the primary source of nutrition for kids, adding, "I'm going to fight until the bitter end to make sure that every kid in this country continues to have the best nutrition that they can have in our schools, because these kids, all of these kids are worth it."

Dive Insight:

The healthier lunch standards were originally set by Congress and the Obama administration, and Michelle Obama has largely been the face of their implementation due to her focus on drawing awareness to efforts aimed at curbing childhood obesity. As we've mentioned before, the move to allow opt-outs isn't entirely partisan: Los Angeles reportedly sees students trash $18 million worth of food every year, and several Boston schools have abandoned salad bars due to a $3.6 million deficit last year.