Schoolkids already have enough on their plate. Will legislators take brown rice off it?

A reimbursable school meal served at a Puerto Rico high school consisting of brown rice with pigeon peas, beefsteak, shredded lettuce and carrots, and milk (U.S. Department of Agriculture photo)

Pop quiz! What sounds like a healthier choice for a grade schooler’s midday meal: A half cup of white rice, or a “cinnamon bun fun lunch”? 

The latter option was on the menu for East Greenwich elementary schools on Wednesday. Later that same day, a bill concerning the quality of public school meals passed the House Committee on Education and is now likely to hit the House floor next week.

Bill H8094 is led by Rep. Justine Caldwell, an East Greenwich Democrat, who thinks white rice should be re-evaluated. After all, she’s seen that same cinnamon bun on menus for her daughter’s school.

“I would rather have her have white rice or white pasta than cinnamon buns,” Caldwell said in a phone interview Wednesday before the committee meeting. “There’s kind of a lot of weird nutritional things that happen [with school lunches].”

Caldwell’s bill would relax the state’s standards for whole grains in school meals, while keeping them consistent with federal law so local schools can still be reimbursed by the U.S. government. After a one-year trial, the whole grain waiver would be reconsidered. 

The whole grain legislation builds on Bill H7400 — Caldwell’s latest effort in a multiyear campaign to make permanent a pandemic-era expansion of school lunch programs nationwide. But to get more reimbursements, more kids need to participate in a school’s meal program — and that only works if kids enjoy the food being offered.     

“We’re hoping that this will bring up an uptick in reimbursable meals and we will be able to use some of that money to help the universal school meals program,” Caldwell said. 

On the surface, Caldwell acknowledged it may seem odd for a lawmaker wanting better meals for kids to then challenge one of the nutritional tenets of those meals. But Caldwell’s bill is a pragmatic maneuver to uplift her ultimate cause.   

“I know the headline sounds like it’s antithetical to our healthy school meals for all ideology,” Caldwell said. “The healthy school meals for all is my absolute number one goal. This is just a way to try to do a small part of that bill…making sure we’re offering culturally appropriate meals, that we’re not wasting food, and that we’re maximizing the federal reimbursement.”

We’re hoping that this will bring up an uptick in reimbursable meals and we will be able to use some of that money to help the universal school meals program.

– Rep. Justine Caldwell, an East Greenwich Democrat, sponsor of bill to temporarily waive whole grain requirement

Bill H7400 expressly asks for “culturally relevant” school meals, ones that taste good as much as they nourish, and the whole grain waiver is meant to help this earlier bill succeed. But why would whole grains like brown rice pose an obstacle to providing meals that satisfy both culture and taste? Insight could be harvested from the testimonies of Rick McAuliffe, a lobbyist for cafeteria services company Sodexo, at hearings for both of Caldwell’s bills. 

“Sodexo represents about 65% of all children in the state,” McAuliffe said at the April 3 hearing where Caldwell’s whole grain bill was introduced. “Sodexo represents all of the Providence schools, and what they found was that the students weren’t eating brown rice, or they weren’t eating pizza and they weren’t eating pasta —  because under the standards, pasta, rice and pizza all had to have whole grain 100%.”

Appealing to many palates

Caldwell is joined by two co-sponsors on the bill: Democratic Reps. Raymond Hull of Providence and Robert Craven of Saunderstown. Hull’s support comes after the March 7 hearing of Caldwell’s universal meals bill in the House Committee on Finance. Hull was curious about the multiple issues with school meals about which students testified. 

“I’m hearing two things here: One, that we need to pay for lunches, and another one that I’m hearing, you’re not satisfied with the quality of food. Is that what I’m hearing: Both?” Hull asked a student who testified in support of Caldwell’s bill.

The student’s “yes” echoed what many teens testified that night: That school meals should not only be free, but sensitive to cultural differences in palate. McAuliffe said in his testimonies, for instance, that many of Providence’s Latino students often leave brown rice uneaten.  

Hull did not co-sponsor Caldwell’s universal school meals bill. But Rep. Rebecca Kislak, a Providence Democrat, did — yet she showed concern about the whole grain bill at the April 3 meeting of the House Committee on Education. 

“We have the white rice/brown rice debate in my house as well. But I am just concerned that already the school meals are pretty bad,” Kislak said. “Can we waive the federal requirement and still get reimbursed? Like is that a thing we even have the power to do?” 

Caldwell explained that the state requirements can be waived and still comply with federal law. 

Rhode Island’s standards are “stricter than the federal standard,” Victor Morente, a Rhode Island Department of Education spokesperson, confirmed via email. The state’s regulations, last updated in 2018, specify at least 50% of a week’s school meals contain 100% whole-grain foods. Federal standards stipulate 80% of a week’s meals contain 50% or more whole grains.  

McAuliffe said Sodexo would only change rice, pasta and pizza crusts under the waiver’s test run. Whole-grain bread would remain unchanged. 

House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi previously expressed opposition to universal free school meals. But he likes Caldwell’s whole grain bill better.

“It’s a good bill and I plan on supporting it when it comes to the House floor soon,” Shekarchi said in an email Thursday. “Rep. Caldwell worked hard on this bill in a collaborative effort to increase participation in the school lunch program.”

Rep. Justine Caldwell testifies at a House Committee on Finance hearing on March 7, 2024. (Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current)

‘Practical considerations’

Caldwell’s House colleagues seem to like the bill. What about nutritionists? Sarah Amin, an assistant professor and community nutrition education director at University of Rhode Island, found it sensible.

“Overall this bill seeks to balance nutritional goals with practical considerations, ensuring that meals are healthy, appealing, and culturally relevant to students,” Amin said in an email. “It reflects a practical and feasible way to work towards the Dietary Guidelines’ emphasis on increasing whole grain consumption. Indeed, there are real challenges for schools that struggle to identify menus and recipes with whole-grain rich foods that are acceptable to children.”

Yes, brown rice is more “nutrient-dense,” Amin wrote, because it contains bran and germ, which hold fiber, vitamins and minerals. Plus, she added, exposing schoolkids to different flavors and foods can help them develop new preferences.

Rep. Kislak espoused that viewpoint at the April 3 hearing: “I also know that if we provide more options, and more healthy options, and if they’re eating it together with their friends in school, it’s more likely that they’ll start and continue and form healthy eating.”

Think Rice, a promotional effort led by United States ricegrowers, praises the many benefits of rice in a cookbook of “reimagined rice meals” that are designed to appeal to students — an example of what Amin says schools shouldn’t give up on, which is “getting creative with brown rice recipes and doing taste tests with students to help promote consumption of these foods,” she wrote.

Amin added there’s no reason to rice-shame: “First, enjoy the white rice! We shouldn’t single out one food and instead families should look at what they are eating across their meals and snacks to get all of the nutrients they need.”  

But it’s not really about the rice anyway. Nourishment without cost for Rhode Island’s kids is Caldwell’s real goal: “The biggest barrier to universal meals is the cost, so I’m trying to throw everything I can at a wall,” she said. 

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