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How strict is too strict when it comes to school nutrition requirements? As Matt Galka explains, standards set by the federal government could be getting scaled back, and that will impact what your child is eating between classes.

Call it a food fight in Washington.  School nutrition standards put in place in 2010 could now be relaxed.  The Florida School Nutrition Association says it’s the right move.

“Programs have lost money, children aren’t eating the food that’s being offered now, so we really want to be able to catch up,” said Frances Gilbert with the FSNA.

The school food lobby group says school lunch participation dropped off in Florida by 15,000 meals a day because of the nutrition requirements.

“What they see is children not eating these fruits and vegetables, throwing away food, you can have the most nutritious meal in the world, if the children throws it away and doesn’t eat it, it has not been nutritious for that student,” said Gilbert.

Stricter nutrition guidelines would mean 100 percent whole wheat grains next year and more fruits and vegetables.

The state’s Department of Agriculture is providing free meals for kids throughout the summer. Cathy Reed is one of the administers of the program in Leon County that feeds more than 3,000 kids a day

“Change is hard, but it’s necessary, I just think we could use a little more time to implement the changes we need to do,” said Reed.

The federal proposal would allow schools losing money to be granted a waiver from the program.