Banana bread has a staunch defender in Congressman John Kline.

The House Education and Labor committee held a hearing today addressing child nutrition programs in schools, and while Kline agreed that childhood obesity is a nationwide problem that must be addressed, he cautioned against federal mandates for what children and their families can eat. Local control, he said, allows for the most effective and innovative policies.

"We've all heard the outrageous stories in which a piece of banana bread at a bake sale does not meet nutritional standards, but a bag of chips meets the requirements," Kline said in his opening statement. "Clearly, arbitrary nutritional mandates can backfire when they override common sense."

The Minnesota Republican brought up this issue twice, asking School Nutrition Association (SNA) President Dora Rivas if she believed the federal government should "regulate the bake sale" and hold food in schools — such as items sold for fundraising — to the same standards. Rivas responded that she believes the rules must be consistent for all food in schools.

The hearing coincided with the SNA's national convention in Washington D.C., where Sen. Amy Klobuchar joined First Lady Michelle Obama in urging school nutritionists to aggressively fight childhood obesity.

Hayley Tsukayama is an intern at the Star Tribune's Washington bureau.