MANHEIM, Pa. – Public schools this summer are faced with a dilemma: continue participating in the national school lunch program and lose substantial revenue from tightened restrictions on school snacks, or forfeit federal lunch funding to preserve a la carte sales.

And many school districts are reportedly opting for the latter.

“I was just shown the revenue of French fries, for example, at the high school. We served over 16,000 servings of French fries. So, if we’re looking at the revenue side of it, that’s $16,000 in revenue,” David Ludwig, director of food services at Manheim Central High School told ABC.

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Manheim is one of several Pennsylvania schools opting out of the federal lunch program over concerns about declining sales tied to Michelle Obama’s federal lunch program overhaul and a new wave of regulations coming next year.

The new “Smart Snacks” rules imposed by the federal government for next year will severely limit the types of foods districts can serve to students under the program that subsidizes lunches at most public schools across the country.

“Ludwig said even salads will be on the chopping block because the dressing has too much fat,” according to the news site.

“It takes a lot of thought to weigh the pros and cons in this situation,” Ludwig told ABC. “What it comes down to is what’s best for the students and what’s meeting the students needs.”

As part of the new regulations, school lunches will be strictly limited to 850 calories, which some school officials, parents and students believe will leave many student athletes with grumbling stomachs.

“Track and field. I throw jav, I long jump and triple jump, and then I’m on the swim team,” Manheim student Bridgette Fittery told ABC. “Usually, I have practices every single day after school. And then I have gym. I have two gym classes coming up next year.”

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The complaints about the new regulations, and wave of schools considering opting out of the federal lunch program, comes after a massive uprising against changes to the program initiated by Michelle Obama in recent years.

Federally imposed limits on meat and vegetable portions, salt content, sugar, fat and other aspects of school lunches have already killed cafeteria revenue in districts across the country, prompting several to ditch the program to remain viable. The changes have also spawned student revolts, including a student-produced video about hunger pangs that went viral last year.

Yet despite the backlash, federal officials have done very little to fix what’s obviously not working. The government has relaxed some requirements of the program, but they clearly intend on moving toward more restrictions, not less.

While encouraging students to eat a more nutritious lunch in a laudable goal, especially considering the country’s problems with childhood obesity, imposing one-size-fits-all regulations on the country’s wildly diverse public school system and student body won’t accomplish much if schools opt out of the program.

If government officials were truly concerned about helping students lead healthier lifestyles and combating childhood obesity, they’d listen to the growing chorus of nutrition experts who are speaking out against the federal lunch mandates.

They’d understand that different students – and different schools – require different approaches to creating healthier lunches, and they’d allow states and local districts to develop plans that will actually work for the students they serve.