Obama’s Budget & School Food
An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away:
Why Then Doesn’t the President’s Budget Proposal Assure
Our Children Even That Much?
President Obama’s Budget became public recently and one of the many items in the massive $4.5 trillion expenditures is $1 billion per year for Child Nutrition split between the National School Lunch Program and the WIC Program. At first blush, given the economy and the call for a 3-year freeze on discretionary spending, this might seem like a win for America’s children; and groups like The School Nutrition Association, and the Center for Science in the Public Interest have applauded the proposal.
I believe we need to take a closer look at what this really means and perhaps rub the shine off of this offered apple. The National School Lunch Program feeds approximately 5.4 billion lunches per year with an approximate cost of $8.5 million dollars. This equates to approximately $2.68 reimbursement for a free lunch student, of which $1 or less is typically spent on food. I want to reiterate – less than a dollar for the food on our children’s plates every day. With that in mind, it seems so clear that we need more money for healthy food for all of our children. (more…)
Are schools addicted to high-fructose corn syrup?