Pizza and french fries may not be your idea of a healthy school lunch.
And, some lawmakers believe it is not the government's role to keep those foods out of school lunch lines.
Congress and President Obama don't see eye to eye on what's for lunch in schools. The President says school lunch programs need more vegetables. Some lawmakers want to keep the the "old school" menus of pizza and potatoes.
It's lunch time at Wasco's Palm Elementary School. Kids are lining up at the salad bar for their fair share of fruits and veggies.
Summer Moore says," I like oranges, I like the slices, I like turkey hoagie, that's a good one."
The Wasco District earned a third place rating in childhood obesity for the state, five years ago. Since then, Wasco has worked hard to change that.
Gaile Huffaker, Director of Food Services for Wasco schools, says "It's not just salads on these bars, it has different fruits and vegetables as well as some of the cans so that we can utilize the commodities that were given to the USDA."
The Agricultural Department and President Obama pushed to raise school lunch standards by limiting the use of potatoes and restricting high sodium, high fat foods in the lunch line. Congress is pushing a bill that goes against that plan. It wants to allow tomato paste on pizza to be counted as a vegetable, as it is now.
Registered Dietitian, Cheryl Garone, says, "Political parties aside, I think all of Congress needs to get a better hold on where our society is going with health, and nutrition is a big part of that."
While lawmakers fight over what's for lunch, Wasco school administrators believe it's everybody's role to encourage healthy eating.
Gaile Huffaker says, "I believe it is the parents' role to instill good eating habits. We are here to support and help to educate that."
"They always give us a choice. We have the salad bar. They give us the choice of fruits and vegetables," said student Summer Moore.
Many schools like Wasco's Palm Elementary have moved away from the pyramid to the plate where children can visually pile on fruits and vegetables, a quarter protein meats and a quarter starches.
