WATERFORD, Wis. – More school districts are turning their nose up at government intrusion into their school cafeterias and are dropping out of the federal lunch program.

By participating in the National School Lunch Program, school districts trade flexibility and autonomy for federal cash.

After the 2010 Michelle Obama-inspired lunch menu overhaul produced massive amounts of wasted food, programs losing money and students left hungry, many districts decided they’d had enough.

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Wisconsin’s Waterford school district is one of the latest to ditch the new menu after its school board voted unanimously this week.

“They’ll continue to cover the costs of low-income students’ meals — likely by spending less on fruits and vegetables that students simply throw away, and by serving slightly less healthy but overall tastier meals to increase lunch participation among paying students,” the Journal Times reports.

Superintendent Keith Brandstetter told the newspaper the new regulations “just restrict us a little too much.”

“The taste has gotten a lot worse and the portions have gotten a lot smaller,” junior D.J. McGilvary tells the Journal Times. “The pizza my freshman year tasted good, and now it tastes like cardboard. And nachos — there’s a lot less chips than there used to be.”

“The rationale is there’s going to be less waste and they can serve a better product and they can sell more, which will increase profit and will offset some of the other losses,” Brandstetter says.

Waterford isn’t alone.

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Illinois’ Monticello school district is also bidding adieu to their federal food overlords. Ironically, school leaders anticipate their budget ending up in better shape, despite the loss of the federal subsidies.

“The move will mean an estimated $42,000 less in federal reimbursement, but should result in a net savings of $60,000 because the school will no longer need to meet expanding federal nutrition guidelines,” the News-Gazette reports.

“We’ll only be serving the things kids are buying, because we’re not required to serve three vegetables per week so there will be less food waste,” Superintendent Vic Zimmerman tells the paper.

A combined 1 million students have dropped out of the program across the country, the Washington Free Beacon reports. The site notes 48 of the 50 states have “faced challenges complying” with the new regulations, citing an audit by the Government Accountability Office.

Waterford and Monticello join at least 321 other districts that have dropped out of the program, according to the GAO analysis.