The “Healthy, Hunger-free Kids Act” (S.3307) was passed by the House of Representatives and is headed for President Obama’s desk. Though, as with most bills, it did not end up including everything that was desired, “the bill is the only major improvement to child nutrition programs … in decades.” And that’s got to be something to celebrate!
Congress Approves Child Nutrition Bill
Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (S. 3307) Awaits Obama’s Signature
October 22. 2010 • Excerpt from TEAFP Alliance Blog – Foodlinks America Newsletter
Low-income advocacy groups in the nation’s capital usually present a united front when it comes to legislation intended to increase benefits and promote better nutrition. But the pending reauthorization of child nutrition programs has revealed a difference in tactics among the country’s leading anti-hunger fighters that could complicate or even prevent passage of a badly-needed extension and expansion of nutrition services for American children in schools and day care.
At issue are two different approaches in supporting the renewal of child nutrition programs, including school lunch, school breakfast, childcare feeding, and WIC. Certain elements of these programs will expire on December 3, 2010 unless congressional action is taken. read more…
October 29, 2010 • Peninsula Daily News
PORT ANGELES — A fruit and yogurt parfait, a baked potato bar and a “build your own” taco bar — these are some of the offerings on the Port Angeles School District’s new menu (view pdf of menu comparison), which will be introduced to Roosevelt Elementary School on Monday and to other elementary schools early next year. read more…
September 25, 2010 • Excerpt from The Seattle Times, Maureen O’Hagan
Aahh, the Snoqualmie Valley. All that fertile land. All those vegetables. All that …
Wait a minute, parents inevitably wonder: Shouldn’t that blushing-fresh produce be winding up in my kid’s lunchroom?
Tricia Kovacs is here to tell you it is. Or, at least, it is in some schools. Sometimes.
Kovacs is in charge of the state’s Farm-to-School Program, which was created in 2008 by legislation intended to make it easier to get more local food into school cafeterias. In recent years, Kovacs said, more and more schools have been putting Washington-grown food on the menu. Farms, too, are increasingly interested in selling to schools.
Still, while all that produce may be only a few miles away, getting it onto lunch trays is no easy matter. Even proponents concede it can be a logistical feat. And with astonishingly tight lunch budgets, even spending a few more pennies on an apple can push it out of reach.
“The things that are stopping people are real challenges,” Kovacs said. “But we also are learning every day ways school districts and farms have found to overcome some of them.”
One of the biggest changes is in attitudes. It used to be just parents and food advocates were the ones pushing for local food. Today, even the U.S. Department of Agriculture is working on it, with proposed changes to purchasing rules and even farm-to-school webinars to show how it can be done.
“It’s very active right now from the national level down to the local level,” Kovacs said. “It used to feel like the schools needed to be pushed. Now I’m hearing from schools and they’re so excited.”
How many schools serve local food? Numbers just don’t exist — yet (Kovacs said she’s working on a survey).
What she does know, however, is that this year, dozens of school districts on Wednesday will join in on Taste Washington Day, an event organized by Kovacs’ program and the Washington School Nutrition Association. Schools are free to participate, or not. The idea is simply to feature Washington-grown items on school menus.
That’s good for both the kids and the farms, Kovacs said.
First of all, local produce tastes better than something from afar, which means kids will eat more of it, she believes. It also boosts the local economy and helps farmers. read more…
September 24, 2010 • Excerpt from TEAFP Alliance Blog – Foodlinks America Newsletter
Legislation authorizing child nutrition programs is set to expire on September 30, 2010 and Congress is facing increasing pressure to take action for renewal and improvement of these programs before adjourning for the fall election season. But it is uncertain whether final decisions will be made in time and without damage to other nutrition assistance programs.
The Senate passed its child nutrition bill, S. 3307, the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act, in August by unanimous consent. The bill contains provisions costing an additional $4.5 billion over the next ten years that will improve the nutritional quality of school meals and expand meal service to children in day care. But at least part of the money – $2.2 billion – to pay for these improvements would come from future cuts in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps).
In the House of Representatives, legislation (H.R. 5504, Improving Nutrition for America’s Children Act) passed out of the Education and Labor Committee in July. That bill would make $8 billion in nutrition investments over 10 years without cutting SNAP. However, to expedite passage before the end of the month, House leaders are being urged to adopt the Senate bill without any amendments.
Nutrition advocates are adamant that child nutrition changes be enacted without damaging SNAP. They were joined on September 21 by Mission Readiness, a national security group of retired generals and admirals whose report released last April, “Too Fat to Fight,” expressed concern over growing child obesity that is compromising military preparedness. “Obesity rates threaten the overall health of America and the future strength of our military,” said retired Rear Admiral Jamie Barnett of the Navy. “We must act now. We cannot afford to raise another generation of young adults where one in four is too overweight to serve their country.” read more…
September 22, 2010 • Excerpt from The Tacoma News Tribune • Jeannie Stewart; Of the Gateway
As the nation wakes up to its collective need to revamp its diet — and fried and processed foods go out of style — Child Nutrition Director Sid Taylor is seizing the opportunity to roll out a new menu for Peninsula School District elementary schools.
Called the Real Healthy Choices Menu, which was piloted last spring at both Discovery and Harbor Heights in Gig Harbor, it phases out former mainstays like chicken nuggets and hot dogs for recipes like a teriyaki chicken rice bowl with the protein-rich legume edamame and a zesty taco wrap with beans mixed into the meat.
That means a lot more nutrients and less fats for kids.
“We will be monitoring the results closely and are very optimistic the kids will like them,” Taylor said.
The shift will take some work, Taylor said. The new menu is more expensive, since it relies on more labor, so the district will need to increase student participation.
“We really need parent and teacher support to make this new menu concept sustainable,” he said.
September 22, 2010 • Excerpt from St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Georgina Gustin
First it was the Pop-Tarts. Then the french fries. Then the nachos.
And this year, another school lunch staple got the ax.
“We’re not serving any chicken nuggets,” said a triumphant Carol Kon, the food service director for the Maplewood-Richmond Heights School District, in Maplewood, Mo. “We’re the first to do that.”
The district of 1,150 students has incrementally, but very deliberately, weaned itself from less-than-healthy offerings, transforming its progressive food program into the envy of school districts around the region.
With more than a third of the country’s children overweight or obese, school food programs, which serve 33 million American students, have come under heavy scrutiny in recent years. Critics have blasted schools and the food industry for pushing junk food and sugary soda, and have blamed the federal government for perpetuating a system that relies too heavily on surplus commodities and highly processed items. School districts have been accused of cutting corners, providing bland, nutrition-less lunch line options. (Think square, cardboard-esque pizza and gluey mash potatoes.)
But in the last few years, the lunch lineup has started to brighten considerably.
“There’s Michelle Obama taking initiative, there’s Jamie Oliver’s TV show. There’s a recognition that there’s a crisis and schools have the power to make positive change,” said Mark Bishop, of the Chicago-based Healthy Schools Campaign. “So many schools are making those changes.”
And more could be on the way. read more…
Action is needed now! Visit these websites to learn more about the Child Nutrition Reauthorization (CNR) bills that are moving through Congress.
UPDATE!! Improving Nutrition for America’s Children Act of 2010
Committee on Education & Labor
To Keep CNR Moving, We Need Your Help!
Community Food Security Coalition
Why Child Nutrition Reauthorization Matters
Feeding America Blog
Farm to School in the House and Senate
FarmtoSchool.org
It Takes a Rocket Scientist?
Debra Eschmeyer, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy Food and Society Fellow
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is prodding schools to do a better job of promoting meal participation, meal quality, nutrition education, and physical activity through its HealthierUS School Challenge (HUSSC) initiative. The program was established to recognize schools that are creating healthier school environments through their promotion of good nutrition and physical activity.
Four levels of superior performance are awarded: Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Gold of Distinction. Schools can participate in this model program by going to the HUSSC web page to learn about the range of educational and technical assistance materials that promote key aspects of the Dietary Guidelines. The website includes a menu planner for healthy school meals, and provides tips on serving more whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, and lower amounts of sugar, sodium, and saturated and trans fats in school menus. USDA hopes to qualify and recognize some 3,000 schools meeting the challenge within the next three years. For details, visit HealthierUS School Challenge.
A new study in the March 2010 Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior shows Farm to School programs motivate food service professionals. The study examines how farm to school programs have the potential to improve children’s diets by providing locally grown produce without burdening school finances. Researchers at the Michigan State University, Lansing, examined why farmers, school food service professionals (SFSP), and food distributors participate in farm to school programs and how they characterize the opportunities and challenges to school food procurement from local farmers. Researchers identified three major reasons why SFSP participate in farm-to-school programs including (1) ”The students like it,” (2) ”The price is right,” and (3) ”We’re helping our local farmer.” Read report release.
If you would like to work with kids or contribute your gardening, farming or administrative experience to our program, please email our volunteer coordinator or go to our “get involved” page to find out more about volunteer opportunities. We often need help in the garden and kitchen, as well as skilled help in carpentry, landscaping, arts & crafts, sewing, photography, videography, grant writing and other miscellaneous tasks.
