A Chance to Feast on Reagan

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The Administration was slow in assessing the political damage. A worried White House senior staff called in Agriculture Secretary John Block for consultations about whether or not to redraft the proposals. Apparently as a result, the subject was not broached in the President's Sept. 24 budget address. The following day Stockman blasted the proposed regulations as "a bureaucratic goof and Block formally announced they would be pulled back for further study. Added Stockman tactlessly: "I don't think the little catsup episode is going to have any great significance."

In retrospect, chastened USDA officials feel that they should have sold their proposals more carefully within the Administration before going public. Says Mary Jarratt, USDA Assistant Secretary for Food and Consumer Services: "There was no way for the regulations not to be controversial. We are talking about a sensitive group, little children." With nearly one-third of the school lunch budget already slashed by Congress, those officials will have ample opportunity to devise a more appropriate, nutritional and workable plan.