Nutrition in the News: House Committee Approves Child Nutrition Bill
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With the expiration of the original Child Nutrition Act rapidly approaching [September 30] it’s no surprise to me that the House and Senate are working overtime to ensure that this re-authorization bill gets passed, but with some much needed improvements. The Child Nutrition Act, which encompasses school lunch overhaul, special nutrition programs for low-income women, infants and children known as WIC, more summer and after-school meals and pilot projects that include an organic pilot proposed by Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., which is an optional plant-based school lunch. This bill, and the focus on children’s nutrition, has gained a lot of traction, especially thanks to First Lady Michelle Obama. The only thing really stopping this bill from moving forward is the same thing that stops many important bills and movements: funding.
According to an article written in AG week, the House bill would increase the cost of the programs by $8 billion over 10 years. The similar provisions in the Education and Labor-approved bill, which was approved earlier this year, included a 6-cent increase in the reimbursement to schools for meals [in the past, schools almost received no reimbursement for spending]. However, this slight increase in reimbursement would only increase total government spending by $4.5 billion in 10 years, with offsets coming from a food stamp education program and a cut in the environmental quality incentives program. That’s a $3.5 billion dollar deficit, which in our slowly improving economic environment, is hard to digest.
The bill isn’t just going to combat childhood obesity, it’s also going to work to end childhood hunger and increase the availability of healthy options for students. As mentioned above, the co-sponsored organic program will provide students with freshly grown, organic vegetables and fruits, which are free of the pesticides and preservatives that are commonly found on lunch/school trays. Children who come from low-income families and who live in poor areas will have the opportunity to eat fresh, nutritious foods, many of which are not commonly found in their meals. Low income areas are common breeding grounds for high-fat, high-calorie fast food and junk food, which is often all these families and children have to chose from because they are the cheapest.
I’m so happy and moved that childhood nutrition has gained such a strong following and is finally center stage, I just worry that this bill will fall short due to lack of funding. It’s so important to instill healthy eating patterns in children and this bill works to do this, as well as give many children the opportunity to eat fresh, healthy food that is often not presented to them. With the childhood obesity rate so high, the only place we can go from here is up, and I think this bill and these provisions will get us on the right steps to solving this epidemic, as well as helping to end hunger in children.
