ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Friday, August 9, 1996                 TAG: 9608090059
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL   PAGE: A-7  EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Associated Press 

IT LOOKS LIKE, TASTES LIKE YOGURT, SO USDA SAYS IT'S LUNCHMEAT

What's for lunch?

For millions of America's schoolchildren, the answer soon may be yogurt, not meat. The Agriculture Department has proposed allowing yogurt to be substituted for meat in school lunches.

Some school officials think it will be a hit with kids.

``I think they would like it, [but] certainly not as a steady diet,'' said Sally Rucker, co-manager of food service for Rochester, Minn., schools.

Child-care providers and the food industry have pressed for the change for at least 15 years, but the Agriculture Department balked because of yogurt's lack of nutrients such as iron and niacin.

The department's recommendation leaves to school nutritionists the chore of making sure children find their nutrients elsewhere.

However they do it, using yogurt as meat is a prospect that raises the ire of cattle producers, especially with beef prices depressed just now.

``USDA should be promoting meat, not pushing it under the carpet,'' Sen. Larry Pressler, D-S.D., said Thursday. ``School children must be provided nutritious and healthy meals, and they should include meat.''

Coincidentally, the Clinton administration tried this year to prop up cattle prices by stepping up purchases of beef for schools. USDA provided schools with 146 million pounds of beef during the 1995-96 school year.

School lunch programs, which feed 25 million children nationwide, are a huge market for the food industry. The federal government subsidizes the cost of the meals and sets requirements for their nutrition and content.

Agriculture already allows some meat substitutes, including cheese and peanut butter. Proponents say yogurt will add variety to lunches, is easy for children to digest and requires no preparation.

Department officials do worry that children may drink less milk if they eat yogurt. When children in a Michigan study were offered both yogurt and milk, just 2 percent wanted both.

On the other hand, for reasons only a dietician could appreciate, children like cheese and milk together.

The Agriculture Department is taking comment on its yogurt proposal until Aug. 19.

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