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By Matt Willoughy | North Carolina Civitas
RALEIGH — After a national outcry about a lunch inspections at a pre-kindergarten program in Hoke County, the North Carolina Childcare Commission got the message.
The commission reinstated a rule allowing homemade lunches to be exempt from nutrition guidelines.
The Childcare Commission had previously considered making “parental preference” an exemption to nutrition standards at previous meetings but decided to omit it.
Parents would be able to tell the schools not to supplement their children’s homemade lunch with school food. Without the exemption, pre-K programs still would need to inspect homemade lunches to ensure all lunches meet the nutrition guidelines. The new rule would allow exemptions for “familial, cultural and ethnic preferences.” At a meeting June 21, the Rules Review Commission is expected to give final approval to the change. The rule would become effective July 1.
The new rule means if parents pack a lunch for their child, the preferences of the parents would trump the established nutrition guidelines.
