Childhood Nutrition Bill Passes

Like on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Google+ Share on LinkedIn Pin to Pinterest Share on StumbleUpon +

Very good news indeed. The U.S. Senate approved a bill that will create great changes in the school lunch program. Which will include linking local farms to school lunches.

This was one of the few bipartisan bills to pass. It is fully paid for ($4.5 billion dollars) and it renews and increases federal support for school lunch programs to make for healthier kids.

Details of the bill include:

Allowing schools in high poverty areas to offer free meals to all students without collecting paper applications, increasing access to the program and reducing the administrative burden on schools.

Expanding the after school supper program, through which poor students can receive a free dinner, to all 50 states.

Increasing the federal reimbursement rate per meal, so that schools are able to offer more nutritious food.

Authorizing the Secretary of Agriculture to create national nutrition standards for all food sold at schools during the day, limiting the availability of unhealthy foods sold in vending machines.

Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont led the way in the Farm to School portion and focuses on connecting schools to local farms. Leahy was quoted as saying, “Connecting farms and schools makes sense in so many ways, from economics to nutrition. The school lunch program is a sizable buyer in every community. There is no need to start from scratch. We have pent up demand for fresh local food, and ample local supplies. It’s a natural fit for an untapped market. What we need are the links and logistics to get the ball rolling. This effort is a catalyst to forge these connections and let them flourish.” This part of the bill should do much good; both for the local economy and for the health of children.

This program will not remove food items like pizza from school lunches, but will change standards so that the items are made in a healthier manner. This is a great move for the health of America, but some think it is not good enough. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand calls this, “a step in the right direction, but not a big enough step.” She also said that “if our children are ever going to truly succeed in the classroom and beyond, they need better access to healthy meals in the lunchroom, and this legislation falls short of that goal. Further, I’m disappointed that the bill is paid for in part with future funds from the critically important SNAP program.”

We are certainly happy to see this progress and look forward to seeing more change.

Like on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Google+ Share on LinkedIn Pin to Pinterest Share on StumbleUpon +

Comments

comments