Watchdog group calls for less processed meats in school cafeterias

" Report found the USDA paid more than $500m in 2013 to meat and dairy companies for school lunch products, including processed meats
" Watchdog asked USDA to recommend less meat and more vegetables for schools

A handful of American food and agriculture companies are receiving hundreds of millions of dollars by selling processed meats that are ending up in school lunchrooms and contributing to the childhood obesity epidemic, a new report claims.

The study, Who's Making Money from Overweight Kids?, published by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), a nonprofit that promotes a vegetarian or vegan diet, found that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) paid more than $500m dollars in 2013 to 62 meat and dairy companies for products that wound up in school cafeterias.