VISALIA, Calif. – Students in Visalia schools are smuggling in spices and Takis Fuego Chips.

In Columbia, Missouri schools, food service employees are working to make macaroni and cheese compliant with government regulations, but students aren’t buying it.

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Schools across the country continue to struggle to serve students food they’ll actually eat under strict federal school food regulations on calories, fat, sodium, sugar, and other nutritional components championed by first lady Michelle Obama.

School officials are making adjustments for the upcoming school year to make up for significant cafeteria revenue losses and counter massive food waste imposed on schools through the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act.

“There was some talk coming from some schools about students carrying Tajin, which is a chili lime seasoning,” Regina Ocampo, nutrition services director for Visalia Unified School District told the Visalia Times-Delta.

“I guess they were eating it right out of the packet and getting stomach aches,” she said. “It was only a few schools that noticed it.”

Other students have resorted to smuggling in pop and candy bars to supplement or replace the bland cafeteria offerings. Ocampo said an increasing number of students have opted to bring their lunch from home since the federal restrictions went into effect in 2012.

Mandates that all schools that participate in the National School Lunch Program serve whole grain rich breads, and force all students to take a fruit or vegetable whether they want it or not, have been particularly problematic, Ocampo said.

“It’s very challenging with items that are whole grain,” she said. “The students, they do still complain about the rice, but there’s not solution to that.”

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Ocampo told the Times-Delta the district started a recycling program at several elementary schools to keep the increased food waste out of the landfill, and plan to expand the program to junior high and high schools this year.

“Last year we did a composting program,” she said, “this year it will be the whole district, starting with elementary schools.”

According to the news site, “one study by Cornell and Bringham Young Universities estimating a nearly 100 percent increase in waste with $3.8 million dollars worth of produce being thrown in the trash each day.”

The district also reworked its menu this year in hopes of creating more foods students will want to eat, Ocampo said.

“One of the menu items being replaced is the macaroni and cheese,” she said. “We used to have a preprocessed macaroni and cheese, but now we’re making it on-site.”

It’s pretty much the same situation at Columbia Public Schools, though officials there have had little success with changes to their mac and cheese dishes so far, Laina Fullum, food services director, told the Columbia Tribune.

According to the site, “CPS will take chicken out of its macaroni and cheese. Federal regulations require students have a certain amount of meat or meat alternates, which include cheese.

“To meet that requirement, the district tried adding more cheese to the macaroni, but doing so exceeded fat and sodium limitations. Schools started serving chicken in the macaroni and cheese to satisfy the meat requirement without adding more cheese, but Fullum said students didn’t like it. This year, schools will take chicken out of the dish and add another meat alternate to the menu on those days,” the Tribune reports.

Meanwhile, the district’s lunch revenues are sliding. The number of district students eating lunch went from 11,000 to between 9,000 and 10,000 once the federal regulations went into effect, Fullum said.

In 2012-13, the exodus resulted in $636,000 in lost revenue. The year after it was $800,600, she said.

Over the last few years, more than 1.2 million students across the U.S. dropped out of the National School Lunch Program, most because they can’t stand the food.

“The food is more expensive, and we’re not bringing in the revenue to cover the cost,” Fullum said.

School Nutrition Association spokeswoman Diane Pratt-Heavner told the Tribune school employees tasked with serving students lunch have reported similar complaints of massive waste and decreased revenues since 2012.

That’s why the SNA is pushing Congress to loosen regulations, despite a vow from the first lady to fight for the “healthy” school food changes “to the bitter end.”

“Our members tell us that they’re supportive of offering the larger quantities and variety of produce, but there will always be some kids who don’t want to take a fruit or vegetable every day with their meal,” Prat-Heavner said.