Programs funded by the federal government and administered by the states are inherently inefficient, and school food programs are good examples, Edwards writes. Inefficiency is encouraged because local officials are spending “free” money from Washington. Mismanagement is exacerbated because responsibilities are diffused across multiple governments. And innovation is stifled because the states are constrained by top-down national rules.
State and local governments should decide what sort of school food policies to adopt for their own residents. The nutrition and obesity problems experienced by many schoolchildren are complex. As such, those problems would be better handled by innovative state policies and families than by one-size-fits-all federal programs. Freed from federal control, the states could adopt more efficient policies customized to local needs.
You can read the full analysis here. If you would like to speak with Edwards, please reach out to pr@cato.org.
