(CNSNews.com) – School lunch directors say there’s room for inexpensive, nutritious potatoes on school cafeteria trays, even though the federal government is set to require only one serving of starch per week.

At an event in Washington on Wednesday, the National Potato Council presented a survey of school food-service directors from across the country, many of whom oppose proposed federal rules that would require more fruits and low-starch vegetables in school meals.

“What we’re hearing from the district school food service directors is that the meals they currently serve are healthy, meet students’ needs and allow schools to manage costs,” said nutritionist Dayle Hayes.

“This survey reveals some very real concerns about the USDA’s proposed rules and expected impact on costs, waste, choice and nutrition – in particular limiting vegetable consumption.”

School food service directors from Virginia, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Maine and California who spoke at the event said that at a time when child nutrition is a priority and tight budgets a reality, the Agriculture Department guidelines would restrict serving certain vegetables to children and would add enormous cost to providing breakfasts and lunches.

Dennis Barrett, who oversees 700,000 meals served each day in 1,000 locations throughout the Los Angeles Unified School District, said the new USDA ruling, if implemented, could increase the cost of his program by $50 million the first year, just by doubling the required portions of fruits and low-starch vegetables.

Barrett said the 6-cent-per-meal reimbursement promised by the USDA will cover only about $6 million of that $50 million increase.

Barrett suggested that the federally subsidized national school lunch and breakfast program “really could be in jeopardy” if the USDA rules take effect next August, as planned.

Barrett and the other panelists also questioned the sharp reduction of sodium – 640 milligrams for lunches at elementary schools. “That’s lower than a low-sodium diet in a hospital,” Barrett said.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who grew up in the potato-producing area of Maine and said picking potatoes was her first job, told the gathering that the USDA rule “simply goes too far” and that restricting the amount of potatoes, green peas, lima beans and corn on school cafeteria trays “simply makes no sense whatsoever.”

Of  the 245 food service directors surveyed:

-- 60% anticipate the proposed ruling will increase their food service costs;
-- 65% believe it will lead to decreased student participation in school lunch program;
-- 65% say it will result in more plate waste;
--  99 % say current menus already provide students with a variety of healthy, nutritious and appealing fruits and vegetables;
-- Only 5% say the new rules will improve the quality of children’s overall health.

The National Potato Council defends the spud with statistics showing it has the most potassium of any fruit or vegetable – a nutrient that is often too low in the diets of both children and adults, according to the USDA’s 2010 Dietary Guidelines.

Potatoes also have more fiber than broccoli and contain no fat or sodium.

Sen. Collins says she is trying to convince the USDA to include the white potato in both the school lunch program and in the federally funded health and nutrition program for women, infants and children known as WIC.

“I find it contradictory that the Department simultaneously promotes the consumption of more fresh fruits and vegetables while discounting the nutritional value and undermining the success of a household staple,” Senator Collins told Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack at a Senate hearing in March.