Fewer kids could receive free school meals under House bill

The group, which represents school nutrition directors and the companies that sell food to schools, called the block grant idea "reckless" and said it would be a first step toward eliminating the federal guarantee that all children have access to the nutrition they need at school.

The bill would raise the threshold for a government program called community eligibility, in which schools in districts with high poverty rates can provide free meals to all students at the school.

The bill would allow a wider variety of foods to be sold in lunch lines, an attempt to provide flexibility to schools that have complained that the Obama administration's standards are too strict.

With the support of Democrats, the GOP-led Senate Agriculture Committee passed legislation in January that would ease requirements for whole grains in school meals and delay a deadline to cut sodium levels.

Schools have long been required to follow government nutrition rules if they accept federal reimbursements for free and reduced-price meals for low-income students, but the new standards are stricter.