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On Monday, December 13, 2010, President Obama will sign the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 which puts 4.5 millions dollars in the hands of child nutrition programs. What's that mean? Better school lunch (and breakfast) programs. Rejoice! But what's it do?
This has been a long time coming. This is the first time in 30 years that these programs have received an increase in funding. In fact, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said that this was "one of the most significant days in child nutrition since 1946 when school lunch program was instated."
I participated in the White House conference call to learn what this increase in funding actually means for our schools and, more importantly, our children. On the call, we got to listen to Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture; Sam Kass, Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives; and Tim Cipriano, Executive Director of Food Services for New Haven public schools (but you might know him as the Local Food Dude). They each talked about various points of interest before opening the call up to questions. All three men were audibly excited and pleased that this historic legislation has passed.
Secretary Vilsack explained some specifics of the program. These are the ones that were most striking to me.
- Allows the USDA to set standards for school lunches, including the regular line, ala carte options and vending machines.
- Creating school gardens!
- Quality drinking water during meal times.
- Increase the number of children eligible for free or reduced programs while simultaneously decreasing demonstrative time and paper pushing.
- School audits to make sure that they are cooperating with the new requirements.
Audits! Gardens! Vending machine and ala carte changes! He stressed consistency -- meaning that a child shouldn't be able to shrug off the "regular" line (healthy option) and grab something unhealthy from the ala carte line or a vending machine. Providing kids with healthy options is key.
"When we replace sugary foods/etc with nutritional foods, we know that kids still purchase them. It doesn’t reduce the profit of vending machines."
Sam Kass then spoke about how, especially in school districts located in highly impoverished areas, children are often receiving the majority -- if not all -- of their calories from school meals. He made the point that most families are working hard to give their children healthy foods at home, and it is up to "us" (meaning this bill) to help provide the same at school. He then hinted at specific food changes that will be made.
- More whole grains.
- Fat free milk available.
- More fruits and veggies.
- Creating bonds with local farms to teach kids about food and help the local economy.
Tim Cipriano then took over the call and began to speak about the statistics regarding children in food insecure homes (1 in 4) and childhood obesity rates. Often the two go hand in hand.
“They are hungry because they lack access to these programs and the nutrition they need to grow and thrive.”
When it came time to ask questions, the increased reimbursement rate -- $0.06 -- was called into question. Cipriano combated the question by sharing what it meant -- food wise -- for schools. He gave the example that they like to offer sweet potatoes as they are a healthy option, but funds don't allow it. The $0.06 increase allows them to offer sweet potatoes three times a month instead of just once. Additionally, it means an extra serving or two of fruit per week. He said, "It can really change the scope of school meal programs."
More over, Secretary Vilsack then explained that reducing the amount of administrative paperwork allows for that time and money to be spent elsewhere, whether on food or programs to teach kids about healthy eating and living. When asked to further explain what that meant, we
