LONDONDERRY, N.H. – At Londonderry High School the evidence was hard to ignore: More school lunches ended up in the garbage than in students’ stomachs.

“The real issue came down to the restrictions on portions, calories and items that had to be included in what they call a reimbursable meal,” business administrator Peter Curro told the Londonderry News. “In our opinion, students didn’t like it. It affected the overall lunch program financially, but more importantly we were providing food that the students didn’t want.”

Londonderry High School is the latest to drop out of the National School Lunch Program over objections to ratcheting federal regulations on calories, fat, sugar, sodium, whole grains, fruits and vegetables championed by first lady Michelle Obama.

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The changes have convinced hundreds of schools across the country to drop out of the national lunch program – and forego federal funding attached to them – to avoid the regulations and serve students foods they’ll actually eat.

Nearly all schools that have dropped the federal restrictions cite plummeting school sales and massive food waste as the primary reasons. Since the restrictions were imposed on schools in 2012, more than 1.2 million American students no longer eat government lunch, and experts have pegged the increase food waste at $1 billion a year.

“A lot of people threw out the veggies and sometimes the main meal,” Londonderry sophomore Erika Tillis told NH1.

“We just had very healthy trash cans,” dining service director Amanda Venezia said.

Many of the students in Londonderry complained the federal regulations do not provide enough food, especially for student athletes who often head straight to practice after school.

“Having to go back to class and having to still be hungry and still want to have more food and can’t really have more unless you buy it? For people who don’t have a lot of money it’s going to be difficult for them,” senior Mark Couture said.

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“Years before people complained about it but they never really did anything until this year,” he said.

“I’m 5’10-5’11, a hundred and seventy something pounds. I do need a little bit of food I would say,” freshman athlete Ty Belville said. “If I don’t eat right or healthy I won’t get the nutrients I need to practice three hours a day.”

News reports did not detail how much federal funding the school might lose by dropping the federal restrictions. But school officials assured the public the district will continue to provide free- and reduced-price lunches to needy students, despite the change.

Cafeteria workers plan to hold “Try it Tuesdays” to encourage students to provide feedback on new menu options, a critical step toward a more customer-focused lunch program, officials told NH1.

“These are intelligent consumers even though they are just students and children,” Venezia said. “They know what they want – they know more importantly what they don’t want.”

Congress is expected to review the renewal of the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act – the legislation that imposed the increased school food restrictions – in the near future. The School Nutrition Association, which represents school food service directors nationwide, wants Congress to dial back some of the regulations, while Michelle Obama has vowed to fight for her pet project “until the bitter end.”