The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act, which is designed to improve the nutritional profile of meals served in K-12 lunchrooms that participate in the federal school meal programs, was officially signed into law by President Obama on December 13th. First Lady Michelle Obama, whose efforts in this area helped push lawmakers to pass the bill, was at the President's side when he signed the bill.

The law's biggest impact is expected to be on so-called "competitive foods," foods and beverages sold at school sites through vending machines, a la carte lines and fundraisers that compete with the reimbursable meals served in the cafeteria. These will now have to conform to federal nutritional standards for the schools to receive federal reimbursement dollars.

Other provisions of the law include a six cents per meal boost in school nutrition program funding, an expansion of the use of local producers to supply school meal components and an expansion of the rules for free/reduced meal eligibility that will link school meal programs to Medicaid data.