Comment on FR Doc # 2012-10229

The new regulation took years for the final rule with I am sure with more staff than I have, and now that we finally have it, you give schools 6 months to be in compliance. That is not a lot of time to do all new menus for several schools,Some including myself have only 1 staff member to do that job. That puts a huge burden on smaller school districts and those with less staff than you have. I run a tight ship and I think that putting a fruit or a vegetable on a student’s tray that will not eat is waste. You cannot force children to eat it, but they do have the freedom to throw it away. We will continue to encourage the children to try these foods. You must know that this is a waste of money for parents and school lunch programs everywhere. I will try to be positive, but right now the economy is not as well as it should be with raising food prices and fuel prices, the timing is not great. We are all trying to save where we can. By forcing parents to pay for the waste you have chosen to provide for them, that is a little unethical. Your intentions are well meaning I know that students and there parents need to eat better. They like the food that comes out of a box, or a drive up window because that is what they are used to. The Grain is going to be tough, to stay within the limits that are set, some will eat it some will not. We have always used a lot of scratch cooking in our school have not seen alot of new recipies from the USDA. The required price increase is just another burden on parents that are just over the line for free and reduced benefits.