Byron Donalds Unleashes MAHA Playbook to Protect Children’s School Lunches

Florida gubernatorial hopeful Rep. Byron Donalds announced on Friday a plan to remove ultra-processed food, artificial dyes, and harmful additives from Florida school meals and to guarantee every Florida child access to clean, tested water at school and at home.

The plan is called Healthy Florida Healthy Families.

Florida schools currently follow federal USDA meal standards, but no state law restricts ultra-processed ingredients or artificial dyes, and loopholes still allow processed snacks and vending-machine items on campus.

Florida also has no mandatory lead or contaminant-testing law for schools, and testing today is voluntary, with most districts opting out. Healthy Florida Healthy Families would reverse that.

Under Donalds’ plan, the state would remove ultra-processed foods and additives from school meals, close loopholes that allow soda and candy on campus, and require every district to post menus and ingredient lists online.

The plan would expand Florida’s existing Farm to School program, connecting Florida farmers directly to school cafeterias, with a dedicated appropriation to build the supply chain needed to meet clean-food standards.

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“When a kid sits down in a cafeteria, parents want to know what’s on that tray. When they fill a cup at the fountain, we want to know what’s in that water,” Donalds told the Daily Signal. “Florida doesn’t have to wait on Washington to catch up. We already grow the food, and we already have the farmers ready to supply it. This isn’t radical, it’s what every parent expects at their own kitchen table, and it’s what Florida is going to deliver to every Florida student.”

The plan also would require testing for lead and contaminants in every Florida school, require districts to post results publicly, and mandate remediation wherever unsafe levels are found.

It prioritizes free or subsidized testing and remediation for families with young children who rely on private wells and aligns Florida’s testing panel with the EPA’s April 2026 draft Sixth Contaminant Candidate List, which for the first time designates microplastics and pharmaceuticals as priority contaminants alongside PFAS.

Healthy Florida Healthy Families pairs Florida’s farm-to-cafeteria supply chain with new testing and transparency requirements so parents can know what their children are eating and drinking every day, at school and at home.

Donalds says his plan reflects his commitment to Florida farmers and agricultural producers, putting them at the center of the state’s efforts to build a healthy Florida.