School leaders do not have the authority to control the food available to students during the school day, which meant that students are free to eat hamburgers and French fries in place of grilled chicken and green beans.

The U. S. Secretary of Agriculture will get the authority to establish national nutrition standards for all foods sold on school campuses during the school day with a proposed change to the federal law, which governs school lunches.

Julie Paradis, who is the administrator for the Food and Nutrition Service at the U. S. Department of Agriculture, is sure that the secretary will be given that authority.

Paradis shared the proposed changes to the Child Nutrition Act and talked with food service leaders from across the Southeast about the new nutrition regulations.

The national school lunch and breakfast programs serve more than 31 million students daily. About $4.5 billion could be spent toward proposals aimed at improving school meals and children's health. A round table conference was attended by Todd Bedenbaugh, the Director of South Carolina's Office of Health and Nutrition in the Department of Education with Paradis, in Charleston.

Ray Bahadori, the Director of Nutrition for Dorchester District 2 said, "It would be very welcome if officials make a true study to find out the actual cost of meals that are provided in the schools so they can come up with a real price for reimbursement".