This fifth-grader wants Christie to fix school lunches

COUNCIL BLUFFS — Chris Christie has a message for elementary students who miss school lunches like square pizza and crispy tacos nixed in favor of more nutritious meals:

"I don’t care what you’re eating for lunch every day. I really don’t,” the New Jersey governor and Republican presidential contender told a student during a town hall Monday. “If I’m president, back to whatever you want to eat.”

The question came from Jacob Royal, an Omaha fifth-grader and aspiring politician, who wore a navy pinstripe suit and a Republican lapel pin.

“What are you going to do about the lunches?” he asked. “They were fine when Mrs. Bush was the first lady, but now that Mrs. Obama is the first lady, they have gone down.”

Michelle Obama has been a vocal proponent of more nutritious school lunches as a way to curb childhood obesity. According to the Centers for Disease Control, childhood obesity has more than doubled in the past 30 years.

New standards adopted in 2012 mandated fruits and vegetables on lunch trays and set limits on sugar, salt and fat. The reviews have been mixed. Some states have reported students getting better nutrition, but other studies have found students are throwing out much of their fruits and vegetables.

Royal said he misses pizza and “crispitos,” a kind of crispy taco, and doesn’t like all “the gluten-free stuff.” Now, he packs his own lunch.

Christie said parents should decide what their children eat, not the federal government.

“The first lady has no business being involved in this,” he said. “I think that this intervention into our school system is just another example of how the Obamas believe that they’ve got a better answer for everything than you do.”

Questions on drugs and race 

During the town hall, which fell on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Christie was asked how he would help prevent the racially disproportionate application of drug laws.

In Iowa, the disparity is worse than any other state. Black Iowans are eight times more likely to be arrested for drug possession than white Iowans, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

Christie pivoted from the question of racial disparity and said the U.S. needs to offer treatment instead of jail time to non-violent drug-users.

“I think it is an even bigger problem than disproportionate application,” he said. “We put (drug addicts) in jail and we don’t treat them, and then we’re shocked to find out that they come out of jail still addicted and they continue the same cycle of crime.”

But Christie took a firmer stance on the next question about enforcing marijuana laws. Christie, who has said he never smoked pot and would crack down on recreational marijuana use in Colorado and other states, bashed President Barack Obama, who has admitted to smoking pot as a youth, for not enforcing the federal marijuana ban.

“Since he got high when he was a kid and he’s got the guilt over that, he now thinks, ‘Well why should I impose the law, the law, on people?’” Christie said. “I’m different. I think the law means something.”

AT THE EVENT

SETTING: Village Inn in Council Bluffs. Christie stood in the center of the restaurant and took questions from diners.

CROWD: About 150 people.

REACTION: The crowd listened quietly but laughed and applauded several times.

WHAT'S NEXT: Christie has said he plans to campaign in Iowa from Jan. 26 to caucus night, Feb. 1.