When President Obama requested $10 billion more over 10 years for child nutrition initiatives, he may have expected pushback from Republican lawmakers. But it was a senator from his own party who slashed that number in half.

Senate Agriculture Chairwoman Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., has proposed a $4.5 billion increase in funding for child nutrition programs, fully offset by reductions in Farm Bill programs.

Lincoln defended the amount after the committee cleared the bill last week. "I would hope that people don't forget that $4.5 billion is more than 10 times more than what we've done in the past. Let's don't sneeze at that," Lincoln said. "I hope we'll all work together to find resources and focus on things that will be great for our children, and one of the other great things for our kids is making sure that things are paid for."

Lincoln has been working to separate herself from Democrats in her campaign for re-election. In her first television ad, she compared Washington lawmakers to children as she touted her votes against health care reform and other key administration initiatives.

The child nutrition reauthorization includes federal reimbursements for the National School Lunch Program, which would go up by 6 cents per lunch -- far from the $1 per lunch increase reform advocates have proposed. In the video below, NationalJournal.com visits a Fairfax County school and looks at the challenges of increasing the quality of food on a tight budget.