Watchdog report on federal food purchasing shows US students eating three fish sticks per year, but 43 chicken drumsticks

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) could be doing more to offer seafood in its national school lunch programs, a new report from the nation's top government watchdog shows.

The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) analyzed the USDA national school lunch data between 2014 and 2019, finding the agency purchased, on average, 3.4 ounces of seafood per student per fiscal year for a program that includes around 30 million students. This amount compares with almost 14 pounds total of beef, eggs, pork and poultry.