Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), chair of the Senate Agricultural Committee, (at left) released her "mark" yesterday (and announced it to the press today) for the The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, a bill that will reauthorize the child nutrition program and up the funding by $4.5 billion over 10 years (Obama called for a $10 billion increase). As the Washington Post points out, "it would be the first time since 1973 that Congress has increased the federal reimbursement rate for school meals." [emphases ours]. The lesser amount is due, in part, to the "lack of traction" in Obama's suggestion that the monies be found by reducing crop subsidies to farmers.
California Food Policy Advocates (CFPA), an Oakland-based nonprofit, commenting on Lincoln's proposed changes to the act, says:
...a number of the offsets, which contribute to the proposed $4.5 billion are likely to be vigorously defended, endangering the splendid reforms contained in Senator Lincoln's bill. This means that advocates have a critical job to do to push for robust funding to protect the bill's promise to improve nutrition and health for low-income children, while also fully-funding the President's goal of $1 billion.
A two-page flyer indicating problems in California that nutrition reform needs to address, and how to advocate for those reforms, is available from CFPA here. Key among CFPA's points are:
- school lunch, which serves 3 million California children, misses another 3 million who qualify for the program -- and only 7% of the meals meet all the nutritional standards.
- over 2 million low-income children miss out on school breakfast.
- nearly 20% of prescholers are obese before kindergarten, but federal nutrition standards for the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) have not been revised "in decades"
- expands afterschool meals for at-risk children (CACFP) to provide reimbursement for meals (currently reimburses only a snack) in all 50 states
- expands universal meal service (schools in high-poverty areas can offer free meals without paper applications)
- includes Medicaid direct certification
- adds foster children as automatically eligible, without demonstrating income
- provides mandatory funding for test pilot projects to improve "the way we feed hungry children"
The Senate will begin to "mark-up" (debate, revise, change) the proposal next Wednesday, March 24.
Photo of Blanche Lincoln by studio08denver.
For specific plans related to child obesity read on:
- schools that meet new meals standards will get a 6% increase in reimbursement rates as incentive
- Secretary of Agriculture will be empowered to establish national nutritional standards for all foods sold on the school campus throughout the school day
- nutrition standards willl be set for child care providers participating in the Child and Adult Care Food Program
- school gardens and local foods will be promoted
- local school wellness policies will be open for public input and inspection
- breastfeeding supported and encourage in WIC
- empowerment of food service directors to keep federal reimbursements in the free/reduced price program within the purpose of that program
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