Healthy Schools Campaign

Changing School Lunch: Engaging Students in Creating Healthy School Meals They Want to Eat

A recent editorial (pdf) by David Katz in the journal Childhood Obesity highlights an aspect of school food reform that's often overlooked. New school food standards matter -- a lot -- but there's another factor that's just as key. Katz says: "Improving nutrition for kids will only ever be as impactful as their willingness to swallow our successes. If they don’t eat it, it won’t matter."

We've seen this play out recently in the news, as students in various cities protest new meal standards. 

 Katz urges us to have faith that kids' tastebuds will eventually respond to new flavors:

"People like the food they know. It is not coincidence that babies in Mexico grow up learning to eat hot chilies, while babies in Japan learn to love raw fish. A large volume of research that I have reviewed for several of the books I have written, as well as 20 years of clinical practice, convince me that taste buds are malleable little fellas: When they can’t be with a food they love, they pretty readily learn to love the food they are with. Once they do, familiarity becomes a powerful reinforcing agent. We like what we know."

At the same time, he notes, we must engage students in the process and give them the knowledge and experiences to make their own healthy choices. Katz says: "We must recall that the ultimate decision here -- what to eat -- resides with the children themselves. . .  we must work with them, as well as for them, to ensure that health is a common priority and to ensure that we share a taste for salutary change."

We agree that involving students is key.  That's why we continue to engage high school culinary students through the Cooking up Change healthy cooking contest! Cooking up Change challenges high school students to create a healthy school lunch within the budget and time constraints facing public schools. HSC will launch the national series of contests on Friday, November 9 in with the flagship Chicago contest and benefit. Winners selected by a judging panel that includes Chicago’s leading chefs will travel to Washington, D.C. to compete in the national finals and present their meal to Congress.

We invite you to join us for one of the most exciting, fun and meaningful nights of the year as teens show us how they would change school food. Learn more, check out stories from student chefs, and purchase tickets online at www.cookingupchange.org.

For more from Dr. David Katz, follow him on Twitter: @DrDavidKatz or check out another recent article of his, The Road to Loving Lunch (That Loves Our Kids Back).

Plus: The same issue of the journal Childhood Obesity features a spotlight on Cooking up Change! Check it out on pages 3-5 of the "success stories" section of the journal [pdf].

What Do the New Nutrition Standards Mean for School Lunch?

As kids across the country head back to school this month, they’re finding something new in the cafeteria: healthier school meals shaped by updated nutrition standards. This year, the USDA updated the nutrition standards it sets for school meals for the first time in more than 15 years. (For more on how these standards came about, check out HSC’s blog.)

What do the new standards mean for the lunches kids see on their trays? The highlights: more fruits and vegetables, more whole grains and age-appropriate portion sizes.

We’ve created a new infographic that shows the new standards in a simple format. Take a look and let us know what you think! Click the image below to check out the new infographic.



In addition to the changes we’re seeing in the cafeteria this year, the new nutrition standards include changes that schools can phase in over the next several years.  The years ahead will bring even more whole grains (by 2014, all grains served in school lunch will be rich in whole grains) and less sodium.

For more information about the updated standards and what they mean for school lunch, visit the USDA’s Healthier School Day site or check out this detailed comparison chart [pdf].

Throughout this week, we’ll be featuring more perspectives and insight on the new nutrition standards. Stay posted for more!

Plus: Share your tray! The graphic HSC created represents one way the new nutrition standards could be put in action. What do the new standards look like in your school? Show us a picture of your school lunch! Tweet your photos to @healthyschools or tag Healthy Schools Campaign on Facebook.

Finding Fresh Food in the Farm Bill

By Ashley Hofmann, HSC public policy intern

What’s the Farm Bill have to do with school food? A lot, actually. And it has the potential to do a lot more if Congress votes to promote healthy food by making it physically and financially accessible through updates to the Farm Bill.

As it relates to school food, the Farm Bill acts mostly as a funding mechanism through the purchase of farm commodities, support of fresh produce programs, grants aimed at developing local supply chains, and provisions to encourage schools to source locally-grown food. The problem arises in funding levels for different types of crops. In 2010, for example, corn and soybean growers received $5.5 billion in subsidies. But most of this isn’t the kind of corn-on-the-cob you grill or the edamame you add to your salad; it ends up as silage, ethanol, and high-fructose corn syrup. This type of spending policy is currently prioritizing fuel and feed over fresh food.

The 2008 Farm Bill took steps to support healthy eating by requiring the USDA to spend more of its budget on fresh food -- $200 million per year. (In case you don’t have a calculator handy, this means corn and soybeans received 28 times more funding than fresh apples, oranges, and broccoli.) Last week the Senate passed their version of the bill, named the Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2012, which increases funding for community food projects and farmers markets, and introduces a farm-to-school pilot program in five states.

At HSC, we commend Congress on their steps to increase support for fresh, healthy food through the Farm Bill and urge our elected officials to continue making changes that will support student health and wellness. HSC makes the following recommendations for the Farm Bill:

• Increase the required amount USDA spends on fresh fruits and vegetables to support the nutrition guidelines set forth in the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act
• Provide commodity support for the School Breakfast Program at a value of 10 cents per meal served to help schools meet new nutrition standards and rising numbers of participants
• Allow school districts to apply for Community Food Projects Competitive Grants to encourage their participation in building local food networks, supporting local growers, and bringing fresh produce to children

Now that the Senate has taken positive steps toward these recommendations, we look to the House to ensure the Farm Bill continues to promote healthy food options by providing adequate funding for school meals and grants to local farm-to-school networks. Representatives need to hear that fresh, local food for students is a priority. We encourage you to send your representative a letter urging support of fresh, local food in the Farm Bill. 

Take action by sending a letter here.

Over the next few weeks we’ll hear from several guest bloggers about the bill’s impact on the future of school food, obesity rates, and community food initiatives. In the meantime, check out this infographic examining the disconnect between the government’s nutritional recommendations and funding levels for fuel and feed.

Stay posted for updates!

Plus: Interested in learning more about the Farm Bill? Check out HSC's Farm Bill fact sheet!

USDA Releases New Nutrition Standards for School Food for First Time in Fifteen Years

Today, for the first time in 15 years, the USDA released updated nutrition standards for school food. We applaud the USDA for taking this important step and applaud the many advocates who, by speaking up for a strong reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act in 2010, set the wheels in motion for the USDA to make these critical changes.

The new guidelines draw on the latest nutrition science and take into account the health risks facing children today, including the childhood obesity epidemic and related illnesses such as hypertension and diabetes. Updates include:

• Increasing the amount of fruits and vegetables.
• Reducing sodium in meals over the next 10 years.
• Setting calorie maximums for the first time.
• Serving only unflavored 1% milk or fat-free flavored or unflavored milk.
• Increasing whole grains substantially.
• Minimizing/eliminating trans fat.

You may remember a media storm late last year about a move by Congress to intervene in the USDA’s process and insist that a small amount of pizza sauce count as a vegetable in a school lunch, or a smaller buzz over the summer when potato lobbyists urged the USDA to remove limits on starchy vegetables.

What happened with those efforts? Simply put, the frozen pizza lobby got its way. The potato lobby got its way, too. As a result, the standards that the USDA released today are not as strong as the ones it initially proposed. That said, these standards are tremendously important and a significant step forward for school food. We are glad to see this important progress and are committed to supporting schools in putting the new standards in practice.

We see much work to be done and urge everyone who cares about healthy school food to stay involved. Here’s what you can do:

Talk with your school food service director. Find out how the school food leaders in your district are responding to the new guidelines. How do they approach putting the standards into practice? What challenges do they anticipate? Knowing that the school community is following the issue and is supportive of the health-promoting changes can make a big difference in implementation.

Take the next step: consider the HealthierUS School Challenge. These new standards set the minimum requirements for school nutrition; many school districts (both large and small) do and will continue to exceed the standards. If your school community doesn’t want to count pizza as a vegetable or serve french fries four days a week, think about ways that you can use voluntary standards to go beyond these requirements. The HealthierUS School Challenge, a voluntary USDA program, is a great place to start. At HSC, we worked with Chicago Public Schools to develop a school food program that meets the gold standard of the HealthierUS School Challenge. Learn more about the HealthierUS School Challenge here.

Stay engaged as the USDA develops standards for snacks and vending. Just as the Child Nutrition Act authorized the USDA to update school food standards, it also called for the agency to update standards for “competitive foods” -- that is, foods sold outside the school meal program in vending machines, fundraisers or school stores. The USDA will take on this task next and needs advocates who care about healthy food in schools to stay engaged and lend support for health-promoting standards in this area.

Kudos to the USDA for taking this important step and to the advocates and school food service directors who will work to turn these guidelines into healthier meals for our nation’s students.

Pizza Counts as a Vegetable? How the Spending Bill in Congress Could Unravel Progress on School Nutrition

by Mark Bishop, vice president of policy and communications

This week Congress is supposed to vote on a spending bill to keep the government running, a bill that because of last-minute additions now contains language that allows pizza to be counted as a vegetable in a school lunch.

In this good AP article about the bill, the reality reads a bit like a bad joke: a frozen pizza maker, a salt producer and a french fry walk into a school cafeteria. . . but this is not funny:

The final version of a spending bill released late Monday would unravel school lunch standards the Agriculture Department proposed earlier this year. These include limiting the use of potatoes on the lunch line, putting new restrictions on sodium and boosting the use of whole grains. The legislation would block or delay all of those efforts.

The bill also would allow tomato paste on pizzas to be counted as a vegetable, as it is now.  . . .

Nutritionists say the whole effort is reminiscent of the Reagan administration's much-ridiculed attempt 30 years ago to classify ketchup as a vegetable to cut costs. This time around, food companies that produce frozen pizzas for schools, the salt industry and potato growers requested the changes and lobbied Congress.

I’m stunned, and I honestly don’t know where to start. So how about a quick reminder of the good old days,  back two years ago when the Institute of Medicine announced -- without a great deal of controversy -- science-based recommendations for improving school food and improving the health of our nation’s children. The recommendations included things like serving students a greater variety of vegetables and more whole grains while cutting back on sodium. The consensus was that this was a thoughtful report and that changes in line with these recommendations would support parents’ efforts to feed their kids well-balanced meals. We all knew that getting to the implementation stage would not be without challenges, but it was good to see that school nutrition standards would be updated with what amounted to science-backed common sense. Ah, the good old days.

Back to today. We’re now facing a policy decision that has replaced science-backed common sense with the assertion that pizza ought to count as a vegetable when it’s served to schoolchildren.

(Side note: we’re not even talking about whole-grain pizza loaded with veggie toppings! We’re talking about frozen cheese pizza with tomato paste.)

If you want to take a look at the bill’s language, go for it, but the main takeaway is this: our Congressional leaders are on a fast track to overrule nutrition science in favor of political expediency. This is a dangerous precedent to set and not good public policy.

We need to make sure this doesn’t happen again. The USDA is planning on releasing their nutrition standards for competitive school foods (food sold outside the school lunch program, such as in vending machines or school stores) this winter, and we need to let Congress know that these standards must prioritize kid’s health and nutrition science.

Will Healthy School Food be Jeopardized by Political Games?

The year 2010 ended with good news for Americans who support healthier school food: with overwhelming support, President Obama signed the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act. This is a bill that, among other things, will improve nutrition standards for school food, increase the reimbursements that schools receive for the meals they serve (by about six cents per meal), and increase access to school food. 

This came after nearly two years of advocacy for healthy school food and was widely regarded as a good step forward for kids’ health. However, it seems that passing and signing a bill doesn’t necessarily mean an end to the political games. 

Last week, on June 16, the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee passed an agriculture spending bill. In addition to cutting funding for many public food programs, the committee attached language to the bill [pdf, see page 42] that directs the USDA “to issue a new proposed rule that would not require an increase in the cost of providing school meals.” In other words, the committee’s note instructs the USDA to disregard the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act’s requirement for more healthful school lunch guidelines.

What does this really mean? Well, there’s good news and bad news. 

First, the good news: this language isn’t going to do anything. 

This statement does not have the power of legislation, is not likely to wind up in any final bill or likely to be considered binding by the USDA. In fact, blogger Ed Bruske of Better D.C. School Food reported: 

“(the USDA) will not back away from proposed guidelines for more expensive school food despite demands from Republican lawmakers that the agency eliminate any requirements that would increase the cost of the federally-subsidized school meals program.”

We don’t need to worry that the new nutrition standards will disappear before they even get here.

The bad news is equally simple: this political maneuver brings attention to the reality that we have elected representatives who support attempts to derail efforts to improve school food.

While this specific challenge to the child nutrition law and the USDA’s authority will likely fade away when the bill is brought up by the US Senate, it will not be the last challenge we see.

The last few years have seen great momentum for improving school food. Although we have a new law in place and are seeing positive changes in schools around the country, we can’t let this momentum for advocacy stop: raising your voice for healthy school food is just as important as ever. Our friends at the Kids’ Safe & Healthful Foods Project have an online action center where you can send a letter voicing your continued support. Click here to send a letter.

Proposed Nutrition Standards Would Increase Whole Foods and Limit Calories in School Food: Share Your Comments by April 13

By Alex Schaible

The January release of the USDA’s proposal for school nutrition standards marked a historic step for school food. The proposed standards are part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 which passed last December and will raise the nutrition standards for school meals for the first time in more than 15 years.  Advocates across the country are sharing their input on the new standards that will help reshape school meals.

Overall, the new standards for school meals would add more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free and low-fat milk to school meals and would require schools to limit the levels of saturated fat, sodium, calories and trans fats served to students.

In addition, there are two big changes that we are particularly excited about.

Moving to food-based menu planning

The proposed rules place strong emphasis on planning meals around foods, rather than a set of nutrients. Schools that use “Food-based Menu Planning” [pdf] must offer five food items in every school lunch: a meat or meat alternate, vegetables and/or fruits, grains/breads, and milk. We especially like this method of menu planning because it encourages kids to get their nutrients from different food groups and promotes eating habits that they can continue in their homes. 

According to the USDA, around 70 percent of school districts currently use food-based menu planning and the remaining 30 percent use a method of planning called “Nutrient Standard Menu Planning.”  This method focuses on getting students to consume a required set of nutrients during the week and focuses less on which foods deliver those nutrients.  As a result, many school districts serve items such as donuts and cookies that are fortified with the required nutrients. Under the proposed rules, schools will be required to use food-based menu planning, which in our opinion is important because it emphasizes whole foods rather than highly fortified foods.

Setting calorie limits

The USDA is recommending a lowered minimum calorie level and, for the first time, a maximum calorie limit for school meals.  Current standards set a minimum (but not maximum) number of calories for school meals, which leads many schools to add sugar-filled (but low-fat) items to their menus to meet the calorie minimum. 

The proposed regulations would set the following calorie ranges: 550 to 650 calories for kindergarten through fifth grade; 600 to 700 for grades 6 through 8; and 750 to 850 for grades 9 through 12.

As the USDA moves forward with developing these guidelines, it will be important that they consider how these new standards will be implemented by schools across the country.  Providing schools with any resources possible, both technical and financial, will help schools comply with the new regulations and facilitate the transition to the new standards.  Complying with these regulations will not be cheap; but if the standards are implemented well, they will serve students in the long run and support healthier school environments across the country.

Please share your thoughts on the nutrition standards with the USDA. You can submit your comments through the USDA’s website by here. The deadline for submitting comments is April 13!

What Will New Nutrition Standards Mean for School Food?

by Mark Bishop, Vice President of Policy and Communications

The past few months have seen big news in the world of school food. In December, the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act passed, reauthorizing the Child Nutrition Act for the first time in more than five years. At the signing of the bill, President Obama said, “We've seen the connection between what kids eat and how well they perform in school.” And two weeks ago, the USDA took steps to implement the law by proposing new nutrition standards for the first time in nearly 15 years.

This is a good step forward and USDA’s quick movement in proposing these new standards is to be applauded.

However, we need to be realistic in recognizing that it will take months if not years before these rules are actually implemented in schools. Improving school food doesn’t happen overnight, nor does it happen with the passage of a single bill. The new standards are very important and will go a long way in moving change along -- but bringing healthy school food to schools across the country will only happen with the day-to-day creativity, hard work and dedication of school food service staff, parents and administrators in thousands of schools across the country.

As important as these new standards will be, we can’t take our eyes off the long-range goal of providing healthy food at the school level, for all children.

A few thoughts:

We need to stay engaged during the process of finalizing the new nutrition standards. While school food standards have been introduced, this is only the beginning. The new legislation requires the USDA to implement new standards for school food within 18 months. This means there will be months of meetings, public discussion, comment periods and many conversations about what school food should look like. These standards are closely based on the report issued by the Institute of Medicine in October 2009, but that doesn’t mean that the USDA will accept the IOM recommendations in their entirety. Importantly, this means we all need to stay engaged to ensure that healthful standards are set.  

And remember that six-cent increase in the school lunch reimbursement? Well, schools only receive it after the new standards are set and after they comply with those standards. In a time when most schools are already losing more than 35 cents per meal (and double that in large urban districts), this extra money will be welcomed -- but it’s not going to provide a level of resources to allow schools to suddenly provide higher quality meals.

We need to make sure schools provide an environment that supports healthy eating and wellness.  The reality is that food in the cafeteria is only one piece of the larger puzzle of a healthy school food environment. As the USDA determines new nutrition standards, we need to make sure the other pieces are also as healthful as possible. Teachers can incorporate health and wellness into classroom activities; principals need to employ strategies to incorporate wellness throughout the day; school nurses need to promote prevention and wellness in their practices; parents need to stay engaged with supporting healthy behaviors: we all have a role to play.

It’s encouraging to see examples of this kind of change bubbling up across the country. In Chicago, we’ve launched Go for the Gold, a citywide campaign to engage parents, teachers, principals, chefs, corporations and community leaders in meeting the high standards for school food, nutrition education and physical activity set by the HealthierUS School Challenge. We’re seeing how important it is to tap into the resources in our community and help schools connect with resources to succeed. Since Go for the Gold launched about six months ago, 15 schools have achieved these standards and submitted their applications, while dozens more are making changes. We’ve seen the community step forward to support schools in achieving these impressive goals: 65 chefs sharing healthy eating lessons on Chef in the Classroom day, corporations providing support through the Civic & Business Advisory Committee, and partner organizations working with schools to provide nutrition education and physical activity opportunities.

The USDA started with the easy stuff.  The USDA proposed standards for school lunch which are based on the work done by the Institute of Medicine. This work has been discussed for well over a year already. However, more work is ahead in developing and proposing new standards for other parts of the school food environment. It will likely be much more controversial when the USDA proposes the standards for all other foods sold in schools: fundraisers, pizza parties, vending machines. . . that will likely generate a more heated debate. And this is where the USDA has a real opportunity to make change.

In all the news that we’ve seen around these new standards, there has been lots of hyperbole. Coverage has ranged from “A Giant Step for Children’s Health” to “New School Food Standards Fail Civil Rights Test.”

But I think Ed Bruske got the tone right on when he wrote, “serving real food in school takes radical changes on the local level, not merely tinkering with standards originating in Washington. That means an attitude change and a commitment on the part of local school officials, parents, and elected leaders.”

My hope is that the new standards originating in Washington are going to make the necessary changes in our schools look a little less radical.

Congress Passes Bill for Child Nutrition Act Reauthorization! What Does This Mean for Schools?

Good news for school food!

Today, the House of Representatives voted with strong and bipartisan support to pass the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, the bill that reauthorizes the Child Nutrition Act. The Senate voted unanimously in favor of the bill this summer. It will now go to President Obama’s desk for signature. As the act is reauthorized only once every five years, this vote marks a significant move to shape the future of school food.

Simply put, this is good news for children’s health. In a time when far too many children face both hunger and obesity, this bill presents an opportunity to set policy that will bring healthier food to the children who need it most.

We are concerned that the limited increase in the reimbursement will not alleviate the financial pressure facing school food programs. We will continue working with hard-working and creative school food service leaders to support their efforts to bring the healthiest meals possible to students.

However, we ultimately believe that the bill will have a positive impact on school food and children’s opportunities to live healthy lives.

This vote comes after nearly two years of advocacy for a reauthorization that makes healthy school food -- and children’s health -- a priority.

It’s been a long road since the Child Nutrition Act first came up for reauthorization two years ago. We commend the Congressional leaders who have stayed the course in making sure that children’s health remained  a priority throughout this long process.

And just as important, we express our sincere and heartfelt appreciation for the many advocates who continued to raise a collective voice in support of fresh, healthy school food during this lengthy and occasionally discouraging political process. It is hard to imagine that this health-promoting policy would have been successful without such strong and consistent advocacy from so many different communities of people who care about children’s well-being.

What does this mean for schools? The reimbursements that schools receive for the meals they provide will increase by six cents per meal. We’ll see improved common-sense nutrition standards for school meals. The legislation will bring policies that help schools send consistent messages about healthy eating throughout the school -- including vending machines, school stores and more. It also includes provisions that should help simplify the process that children who are eligible for free meals go through to receive those meals. And the bill includes pilots for expansion of farm-to-school programs as well as organic foods.

As we’ve discussed, this is not a perfect bill. We advocated for more funding for school food and funding from different sources. But ultimately, we  believe this bill is an important step and will  bring meaningful change for kids’ health.

Stay posted for updates and more analysis in the weeks ahead.

House to Vote Wednesday on Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act: Contact Your Representative Today

This Wednesday, the House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on the reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act, the legislation that provides funding and sets standards for school food.

The House is considering the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (S. 3307) which, though far from perfect, includes excellent policy changes to improve school food now and in the future. In a time when many children face both hunger and obesity, this bill presents an opportunity to set policy that will bring healthier food to the children who need it most.

Your voice is crucial in making this policy a reality. Please call your Representative today:

Dial 1-877-698-8228 and enter your zip code to be connected directly to your Representative’s office. Deliver this simple message: "Congress must not adjourn without passing the child nutrition bill. Please vote yes for the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act."

Thanks to Feeding America for providing this dial-in number to advocates nationwide.

We have urged those who care about school food to speak up about this issue several times over the past two years as reauthorization worked its way through Congress. Now, as Congress prepares to vote, your voice is more important than ever.

Thank you for taking action.

Jamie Oliver Said it Right: The Fight for a Strong, Well-Funded Child Nutrition Act Isn't Over Yet

By Mark Bishop, deputy director

I’ve spoken to many people who felt deflated when the Child Nutrition Act reauthorization didn’t pass last week. I understand. We’ve been working hard, and at times it’s hard to understand why our political leaders just can’t seem to find the way to prioritize children’s health.

But Jamie Oliver said it well yesterday in an editorial on CNN. In short, he said that the fight isn’t over and we need to keep the momentum alive -- in our schools and in the national political scene.

When Congress returns, members should not only support these new standards but also give people the necessary dollars to get on the path to fresh food. Parents deserve to know what their kids are being fed at school. If Congress won't put the regulations in place, then Americans are going to have to take things into their own hands.

And what should we do? As Oliver says in his editorial:

• Drop into school and eat lunch with your child. See for yourself what is being served on the breakfast and lunch trays. If you don't like what you see, find other parents in your school who are as frustrated and disgusted as you are. Band together and go to your school board and demand change.
• Love your lunch ladies. Go visit them and thank them. Let them know you appreciate that they take care of your kids and that you want to help them get better equipment, training and information to make their jobs easier.
• Make noise. Send e-mails, meet your school nutrition director, go to PTA meetings, and get your kids involved. Take every opportunity to keep school food change front and center.

These points are right on. We need to be informed, we need to understand what’s going into our children’s bodies at school and we need to make our voices heard. At your school, in your state -- and let’s not forget, we need to let our national leaders know that we need them to prioritize children’s health.

To speak up at the national level, visit HSC's child nutrition action center, where you can send a letter to your representatives letting them know that child nutrition must be a priority.

Child Nutrition Act Vote Delayed: What's Next?

by Mark Bishop, deputy director

Advocates have been pushing for a new Child Nutrition bill for nearly two years now. (For a recap of analysis along the way, check out the child nutrition section of HSC's blog.) And while expectations were high early on, political realities have set in.The most recent bills under consideration (including the one passed by the Senate) include only a six-cent increase in meal reiumbursement rates for schools. And the funding in the Senate bill takes money from food stamps! But the regulatory changes in the bills are still good and still important.

The current version of the Child Nutrition Act was scheduled to expire today; advocates across the U.S. sent thousands of letters urging the House to take action before the current bill expires.

Today, we learned that the House has delayed a vote on Child Nutrition until after the autumn recess, instead passing a two-month extension of the overall federal budget. According to Jane Black at The Washington Post: 

A child nutrition bill that was a centerpiece of Michelle Obama's healthful eating campaign stalled in the House on Wednesday after anti-hunger groups and more than 100 Democrats protested the use of food stamp dollars to pay for it.

The bill, which passed unanimously in the Senate this summer, would have mandated strict nutrition standards for all food sold in schools and boosted spending on school meals and other nutrition programs by $4.5 billion over 10 years -- the first increase since 1973. The legislation must be reauthorized every five years. In 2009, Congress passed a one-year extension.

What's next? From Obama Foodorama:

The House legislation could be taken up in the lame duck session after the mid-term elections, but even that isn’t certain. The bill was a historic moment in child nutrition history: For the first time in three decades, the non inflationary reimbursement rate for school lunches was increased, and there were all kinds of components that helped improve school-based nutrition programs, as well as other federal feeding initiatives.

In the next two months before the House takes up the vote, we'll to continue advocating for a bill that includes these important changes to school food standards and policy -- and funding from a source other than food stamps.  

We’ll see what happens.

Down to the Wire on Child Nutrition Act Reauthorization

The latest news we're hearing is that action is very near on Child Nutrition Act reauthorization. The House is now considering taking up the Senate bill, which invests $4.5 billion in child nutrition but cuts $2.2 billion from SNAP (food stamps) to do so. Congress has until Sept. 30 to act before the current version of the act expires.

As the act is reauthorized only once every five years, this is an important opportunity to shape the future of school food, particularly in light of First Lady Michelle Obama’s call to end childhood obesity in a generation. 

HSC is advocating for a timely reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act that makes kids' health a priority by setting policy and providing funding for healthy school meals. We urge our elected leaders in the House to adequately fund healthy school food without taking money from food stamps.

Be part of the movement for healthy school food by sending a letter to let your Representative know that child nutrition must be a priority.

 

For more background on the Child Nutrition Act or the bills currently under consideration, visit HSC's Child Nutrition Resource Center or the Child Nutrition Act section of HSC's blog.

Critical Time for Child Nutrition: Contact Your Representative

 

This is a critical time for school food policy and resources. Congress has returned from recess and now has until September 30 to act before the current Child Nutrition Act expires. The Senate has passed their version of the bill. Now, we need our elected leaders in the House of Representatives to pass their version of the Child Nutrition Act -- and fund the bill without taking money from food stamps.

Please take a moment to send a letter urging a timely reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act.

While the current House and Senate versions of the bill do not include adequate funding to fundamentally transform school food, they do include many health-promoting policy provisions and small increases in the reimbursements schools receive for the meals they provide.

In a world where cash-strapped schools are already losing money on their meal programs and growing numbers of families rely on school food, it is important that Congress reauthorize the bill so that schools can receive increased meal reimbursements. A delayed reauthorization would put health-promoting policy provisions such as farm-to-school programs, limits on junk food in schools, and streamlined administration of the program at risk.

Please urge your representative to help bring this bill to the floor for a vote. Click here to send a letter.

Thank you for being part of this important effort.

Mary Richardson-Lowry of Chicago Public Schools at Go for the Gold Launch: 'The Foundation for Success is Set'

Mary Richardson-Lowry addresses the crowd at the Go for the Gold launch.

At the August 17 launch of the Go for the Gold Campaign, several key leaders helped us kick off  this new initiative. We're proud to work with such tremendous supporters, including Mary Richardson-Lowry, President of the Chicago Public Schools Board of Education. HSC greatly appreciates the district’s commitment to promoting student health and improving nutritional standards for schools meals.

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An excerpt of remarks from Mary Richardson-Lowry:

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We are here for a very important cause -- the health and well-being of our students.

CPS is committed to providing a world-class education for the students of Chicago and we know that there is a strong connection between healthful school food, physical activity and a student’s ability to learn and succeed in school.

In a school district where 86 percent of students are low-income and many young people receive the majority of their daily food intake at school, it is especially important for us to provide students with healthful meals.

Many of our students face the dual challenge of food insecurity and childhood obesity. We see a strong school nutrition program as a way of positively impacting both those conditions.

We are proud that one of our most famous alums, First Lady Michele Obama, is taking the lead on fighting childhood obesity through the her Let’s Move initiative.

But even before the First Lady championed this cause, CPS was at the forefront of bringing healthier foods to our schools. I am very pleased to announce that for the 2011 school year, we have significantly raised the nutrition standards for school food and developed the healthful, delicious recipes that you sampled for lunch today.

To develop the new standards, we convened a group of dietitians, school food operational experts and community partners. This group adopted the philosophy that the menu improvements needed to be far-reaching and sustainable. . .  sustainable so that they would be affordable and pleasing improvements for our students that we could continue to offer for many years to come.

Some of the highlights of the new standards include:

• While vegetables are already offered daily, CPS will now offer a different vegetable every day, and increase dark green and orange and dark vegetables and limit starchy vegetables.
• Where occasional whole grains are offered, there will now be a whole grain offering at lunch each day.
• All menus contain zero trans fats.
• No donuts or breakfast pastries will be on the menu and there is a prescribed standard for cereal that limits the amount of sugar it contains.

Healthy Schools Campaign was one of our key community partners in developing these new nutritional standards.

I am very pleased today to announce Go for the Gold, a new partnership between Chicago Public Schools, Healthy Schools Campaign, the USDA Midwest Office and Illinois State Board of Education.

Go for the Gold builds on the major advancements we made with our new nutrition standards and is a citywide partnership that will challenge and support Chicago public schools to meet the USDA’s HealthierUS School Challenge.

This challenge is one of the pillars of the First Lady’s Let’s Move Campaign and recognizes schools that make improvements to school food and nutrition education, and increase opportunities for physical activity and recess.

We support all of these changes and see them as key to creating an educational environment that promotes success and academic achievement. We also support the First Lady’s goal of reversing the childhood obesity epidemic that threatens so many children and adults in Chicago.

Go for the Gold also provides us the opportunity to highlight the individual success of schools that are already committed to health and wellness. Two years ago, Principal Jorge A. Ruiz became the new administrator for Eli Whitney Elementary School, and he quickly became a champion for making schools healthier places.

The dedicated parents who were already involved in school wellness initiatives welcomed his arrival. The school’s active wellness team, composed mostly of parents, researched wellness practices other schools were implementing and compiled a wish list and a set of reasons why their school should implement these practices.

Their list included: increasing breakfast consumption, creating an in-school daily exercise for all students, and increasing opportunities for the surrounding community to learn about being healthy.

Eli Whitney School is a great candidate to be a Go for the Gold school because it promotes student meal participation during the school day, promotes opportunities for physical activity for all students, and reinforces nutrition and health messages through multiple channels of communication.

The school wellness team and the principal worked hand in hand to accomplish these goals. Here are some examples of that:

• The school implemented Breakfast in the Classroom, a program that provides a healthy in-classroom breakfast. Principal Ruiz noticed positive changes immediately after the program was implemented. Not only did school attendance increase, but so did students’ readiness to learn.
• And Breakfast in the Classroom also took away the stigma many students felt in receiving free lunch. Teachers greatly applaud the program and say that taking those ten minutes to eat breakfast are well worth it because students behave better and are more alert to learn.
• Every morning at 9 a.m. and in the afternoon as well, time for yoga is announced over the PA system. Students and teachers clear a space for themselves in the classroom and follow the yoga moves spoken over the PA system. For about a year now, yoga has become a daily ritual for students and staff, and the program has been very well received. Students and teachers are refocused and reenergized, making the school day a very productive one.
• Eli Whitney has also found great community partners that strengthen the work the school is doing around health and wellness. The school helps organize health festivals where various community organizations promote their services and also celebrate healthy lifestyles. For example, many parents and community members began to attend St. Anthony Hospital’s healthy cooking classes and now regularly go to their workshop series on wellness.

Our wellness policy supports all of the components of Go for the Gold. Chicago Public Schools knows that physical activity during the school day increases the likelihood for children to be successful in school and strongly encourages schools to incorporate recess on a regular basis as part of the instructional day.

The district also makes available to all schools a robust health curriculum which includes nutrition education. The foundation for success is set.

Go for the Gold will engage the entire school community – from parents to teachers, students, principals, nonprofit organizations, businesses and the culinary community. CPS is committed to this partnership at every level of the organization and we are energized and excited to work with all of you to make it a reality.

We treasure all of our students and want them to lead long, healthy, and active lives.

--

Thank you to President Richardson-Lowry for taking part in this exciting launch!

To check out more photos from the launch event, click here.

Child Nutrition Act - A Game Changer?

By Mark Bishop, Deputy Director

Yesterday the Senate unanimously passed the Child Nutrition Act. The bill would partially fulfill President Obama’s request for $10 billion in additional funding for child nutrition program by providing $4.5 billion over the next decade. The bill will now move on to the House where it will need to pass by September 30, before the current program expires.

According to The New York Times:

The legislation will expand the number of low-income children who are eligible for free or reduced-price school meals, largely by streamlining the paperwork required to receive the meals. And it will expand a program to provide after-school meals to at-risk children.

Foods sold in schools will be required to meet new nutrition guidelines, whether sold in the school lunch line or in vending machines. Schools may still be allowed to sell pizza and other favorites, though schools may have to substitute healthier ingredients to qualify.

School vending machines and a la carte lines, however, may be prohibited from selling candy bars and high-sugar sodas that have long provided revenue for extracurricular programs.

These are all positive and important changes. And all in all, this will allow for greater access to healthier food for our children. 

But let’s not lose perspective. This bill is good, but not a game changer. The low level of funding will mean that schools will continue to struggle with limited resources and will face an ongoing challenge as they work to provide healthier and higher quality options for schoolchildren.

With all the focus on addressing childhood obesity at the federal, state and local levels, we are disappointed that the Senate didn’t come up with more money to improve school food.

The increase in funding included in this bill is only six cents per meal -- and that's in an environment where schools, on average, are already losing about 35 cents per meal. (Schools in large urban settings are losing about double that amount.) This additional revenue, while welcome, will not open the flood gates to fresh fruits and vegetables. Rather, it will place a small plug in school food budgets already in crisis.

So as the bill goes to the House, we still need to ask our legislators to prioritize our children’s health and pass the bill with a greater level of funding. Because if we really want to address childhood obesity and improve school food, we need to invest real resources into how we feed our children.

Update: Ughhh... It seems that most of the offsets that were identified to pay for this funding increase were taken from SNAP funding. Not pretty. Read Ezra Klein for more information.

Critical Time for Child Nutrition: Urge Congress to Act Now, Before Congressional Recess in Two Weeks

The next two weeks are critical for school food policy and resources. Committees in both the Senate and House of Representatives have passed their versions of the Child Nutrition Act reauthorization.

Now, we need our elected leaders to pass these bills in time for the upcoming school year -- before Congress goes on recess in two weeks.

Please take a moment to send a letter urging a timely reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act.

While these bills do not include adequate funding to fundamentally transform school food, they do include many health-promoting policy provisions and small increases in the reimbursements schools receive for the meals they provide.

In a world where cash-strapped schools are already losing money on their meal programs and growing numbers of families rely on school food, it is important that Congress reauthorize the bill in time for schools to receive increased meal reimbursements for the 2010-11 school year. A delayed reauthorization would put health-promoting policy provisions such as farm-to-school programs, limits on junk food in schools, and streamlined administration of the program at risk.

Please urge your Senators and Representative to help bring this bill to the floor for a vote before Congressional recess in two weeks. Click here to send a letter.

Child Nutrition Act Bill Mark-Up to Begin Today: Now's the Time to Speak Up

The reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act, the federal legislation that determines school food policy and resources, is moving in Congress. The bills introduced for reauthorization include several health-promoting policy provisions but do not include adequate funding to make fundamental change for healthy school food.

The House of Representatives Education and Labor Committee will begin mark-up of the bill today, July 14. The current version of the House bill increases the school food reimbursement rate by only six cents per meal, not enough for schools to make health-promoting changes to support students' wellness and learning.

Now, representatives need to hear that the public supports increased funding for healthy school food.

If you’d like your voice to be heard on this issue, now is the time to speak up! Please take a moment to contact your representative in support of a timely and well-funded reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act.

At a committee hearing this month, Sec. of Agriculture Tom Vilsack testified in support of a reauthorization that makes kids’ health a priority. "To state it simply, we are here today because school meals matter," he said. "Our schools are on the front line of efforts to improve childhood nutrition, our collective health, and the future of our great nation."

With the support of the administration, parents, students and advocates across the country, Congress now has a critical opportunity to change the future of school food by providing funding for healthy school meals. Add your voice to the call for kids’ health by sending a letter today.

Support for Healthy School Food in National Defense Bill

At first glance, H.R. 5136, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011, may seem an unlikely place to highlight the importance of child nutrition. The bill’s purpose, "to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2011 for military activities of the Department of Defense," does not seem to be directly related to obesity or child nutrition.

But, as HSC's Mark Bishop explained in a recent blog, the connection is not too far of a stretch:

. . . 75 percent of 17 to 24 year-olds are not eligible to enlist in the armed forces. There are many reasons for this, but one of the most significant is obesity. This made me think that the more things change, the more things stay the same. Prior to World War II, military and government leaders became concerned with the health of army recruits: as a whole, they were malnourished.  . . .

We currently have a 60-year-old system designed to get more calories to a malnourished student population, delivering too many calories to a student population facing record levels of obesity. Just as the National School Lunch Program was established to deliver more calories to malnourished children, it must now be adapted to provide the kind of healthy meals that can help this generation of children develop healthy eating habits for a lifetime.

Last month, the US House of Representatives voted in favor of an amendment to this military spending bill to demonstrate support for adequate funding for healthy school food in the reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act. The amendment includes a statement that "hunger and obesity are impairing military recruitment and must be properly addressed." The bipartisan amendment was offered by Representatives James McGovern (D-MA), Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO), and Sanford Bishop (D-GA).

Both the House and the Senate are moving forward with reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act and we need advocates from every community -- from education to health to national defense -- to speak up about why healthy school food matters. Click here to raise your voice.

W.K. Kellogg Foundation Survey Finds Widespread Support for Healthier School Meals

Recently the W.K. Kellogg Foundation reported that most Americans want changes to provide healthy school meals to our nation's students. The survey of more than 800 Americans from all over the country found "near-universal agreement that childhood obesity is a problem or crisis, and that improving the health of American children requires communities to prioritize access in schools to fresh produce and exercise."

This is great news for those of us working to create healthier school environments -- and we believe that as support for healthier schools grows, Congressional support must grow as well. Schools need more money to provide the healthy meals that more and more parents and community members support.

Dr. Gail Christopher, who oversees food, health and well-being as vice president of programs at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, said: 

The data in this survey highlight the widespread support for transforming school food to help all children lead healthier lives... When students have access to healthy, locally-grown food and physical activity, it allows them to thrive both in and out of the classroom.

Learn more about how you can raise your voice and be part of the movement to bring schools more money for healthy food!