The Child Nutrition Bill

Posted by Christy On Thursday, January 13, 2011 0 comments

One out of every three American school children are considered overweight or obese.
Over 31 million children receive meals through the school lunch program and many children receive most of their meals at school.

Those two things alone should tell you SCHOOL FOOD is crucial to giving our kids the opportunity to live long, healthy lives.

The Senate passed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, a bill that provides an additional $4.5 billion over 10 years to federal child nutrition programs, including school lunches. It will be the first time that the federal government has increased funding for the programs in 30 years. Why it has taken us 30 years to realize this needs to happen is beyond me, but at least we're starting now!

What exactly does this do?

Gives USDA the authority to set nutritional standards for all foods regularly sold in schools during the school day, including vending machines, the “a la carte” lunch lines, and school stores.
Provides additional funding to schools that meet updated nutritional standards for federally subsidized lunches.
Helps communities establish local farm to school networks, create school gardens, and ensures that more local foods are used in the school setting.
Builds on USDA work to improve nutritional quality of commodity foods that schools receive from USDA and use in their breakfast and lunch programs.
Expands access to drinking water in schools, particularly during meal times
Sets basic standards for school wellness policies including goals for nutrition promotion and education and physical activity, while still permitting local flexibility to tailor the policies to their particular needs.
Promotes nutrition and wellness in child care settings through the federally-subsidized Child and Adult Care Food Program.
Expands support for breastfeeding through the WIC program.

Click here to see a sample of BEFORE/AFTER school menu.

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