SACRAMENTO, Calif. – There’s a food fight brewing in California over Michelle Obama’s “healthy” school food regulations as Congress dithers on possible changes to the program.

The fight is apparently between the California School Nutrition Association, which wants to halt or roll back the expensive and wasteful provisions of the law, and other “food policy advocates,” EdSource.org reports.

MORE NEWS: Know These Before Moving From Cyprus To The UK

The CSNA is aligned with the national School Nutrition Association in calling on Congress to consider loosening restrictions on school foods imposed through the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act championed by first lady Michelle Obama.

Regulations requiring students to take a fruit or vegetable whether they want it or not his creating staggering food waste, and other restrictions on sodium and whole grains drive up costs and severely limit what schools can offer students, the SNA contends.

The group, which represents 53,000 food service workers nationwide and 2,000 in California, wants lawmakers to make the required fruits or vegetables optional, and to pause ratcheting restrictions on whole grain rich breads and sodium, according to the news site.

“We’re looking for flexibility,” CSNA president Dena England said.

The CSNA has sent members to Congress to testify against the requirements, as well as others, in hopes that Washington, D.C. lawmakers would fix the problems with the program before the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act expired Sept. 30.

But Congress simply ignored the deadline, allowing funding and regulations governing school foods to remain intact indefinitely.

MORE NEWS: How to prepare for face-to-face classes

And as debate continues on the school food regulations, the CSNA is continuing to lobby against them.

The CSNA’s position, however, is causing concern with some people because California has been a “leader” in mandating students eat “healthy” foods.

“I am really surprised that they would take that position,” Shirley Watkins, former SNA president, told EdSource. “California has always been a leader.”

Others have taken to bad-mouthing the SNA and CSNA in an apparent attempt to discredit the organization’s opposition to Michelle Obama’s pet project.

Tracey Patterson, legislative director for the California Food Policy Advocates, pointed to the CSNA’s close ties with food companies and implied the organization cares more about sponsorships than students.

“I think it’s important to remember that the California School Nutrition Association represents food directors and not necessarily the students,” she said.

Navato Unified School District food services director Miguel Villarreal also suggested that food companies are driving the SNA’s policies.

“It’s what’s been happening since the beginning of time,” Villarreal said. “Big food manufacturers and beverage companies support the School Nutrition Association – they help fund conferences and many other initiatives. It’s the same in every state.”

Farming interests are also on the attack against Big Food, primarily because the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act has been a boon for fruit and vegetable sales.

The blog Modern Farmer, for example, recently highlighted the SNA’s ties to food companies and the influence those companies hold over lawmakers.

“Fully half of the organizations $10.5 million budget comes from Big Food, including such companies as General Mills, Domino’s, and Tyson,” according to the site. “Overall, agribusiness gave more than $48 million to Republicans and more than $16 million to Democrats in the last election cycle. Sodexo alone spent more than $1.1 million lobbying Congress in 2010, much of it related to the (Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act.)”