For healthier kids, increase the federal school lunch budget

For all the good first lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” initiative will do motivating the private sector, there is hard work ahead as Congress takes up reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act this year.

The administration has proposed an additional $1 billion per year for child nutrition in its fiscal 2011 budget. At first blush, given the state of the economy and the president’s call for a three-year freeze on discretionary spending, this might seem like a win. The School Nutrition Association and the Center for Science in the Public Interest have applauded the proposal and are asking parents and school administrators to get behind this investment.

But the truth is that $1 billion is a far cry from what’s needed to get good food into schools. In fact, $1 billion for child nutrition per year translates to mere pennies for every school lunch. That’s not even what it costs me to put a fresh apple on each lunch tray.

The National School Lunch Program feeds nearly 31 million students every day for the bargain price of $9.3 billion per year. Under this program, the U.S. Department of Agriculture spends only $2.68 per lunch for eligible students. Do you remember when you last ate a fresh, healthy lunch for less than $3? With that in mind, it should be evident that we need more money for healthy school food.

As a nation we spend more than $260 billion annually on just two health issues: diabetes and obesity. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has indicated that of the children born in 2000, one out of every three Caucasians and two out of every three African Americans and Hispanics will develop diabetes. Research shows that this may be the first generation in our nation’s history to die at a younger age than their parents. Diabetes and obesity are the health-care crises of our era and, in most cases, can be prevented with healthy diet and exercise.

Every day millions of children eat lunch, and sometimes breakfast, at school. For many, these are the only hot meals they get all day. To support the first lady’s initiative, we should ask our elected officials for $5.4 billion more annually to support child nutrition through the reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act. An additional $5.4 billion a year would ensure an extra dollar for every lunch and could guarantee that fresh, healthy foods find their way to our kids’ bellies.

While that may seem like a lot, more money is not enough to solve the problem. As Congress weighs its options for child nutrition, it must introduce regulations that guarantee implementation of the proposed Institute of Medicine school food guidelines. It’s the only way to ensure that more funding translates into healthier food. If school food-buying decisions are based on those guidelines, that extra dollar a day will turn into fresh fruits, fresh vegetables and whole grains in our children’s lunches.

Michelle Obama is raising our consciousness about the impact a diet of highly processed, high-calorie foods is having on our children. It’s up to Congress to change the way our children eat and to ensure that enough money is invested in school food to guarantee the next generation reaches adulthood at a healthy weight.

The writer, a chef known as the Renegade Lunch Lady, is interim director of nutrition services at the Boulder Valley School District and founder of TheLunchBox.org, a Web site that advocates healthier school lunches.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/04/AR2010030404039.html?referrer=emailarticle

So if the President, who has two chefs at the White House, isn’t eating a healthy diet, what can we expect of our most at risk children, who are fed a diet high in refined carbs everyday at school.  We know the President’s diet will be “fixed,” but what about our children’s?  Write your elected officials and let them know that we need one more dollar for healthy school lunch.

It’s Not the Burgers, Mr. President, it’s the Buns

March 2nd, 2010 · No Comments · Wellness

It must have come as a surprise to many that a president as young and vigorous as Barack Obama could be experiencing cholesterol issues, as reported last week. But even more surprising is the misinformation being doled out by the people around him about the likely causes. “Too many burgers,” came the ready explanation. More likely, Mr. Obama’s beef isn’t with the meat he eats or even the fat in it, but with the cushy bun surrounding his burger and his apparent weakness for White House pies. (more…)

Reposted with Permission By Jill Richardson:

Are School Lunches Setting Kids Up for Obesity and Poor Nutrition?

February 25, 2010 |

Photo Credit: Beau Wade

Michelle Obama launched her “Let’s Move” campaign to fight obesity with a flood of media attention and a Presidential Memorandum, signed by her husband, establishing a new Task Force on Childhood Obesity. But how does the rhetoric of the Let’s Move campaign stack up against what President Obama’s administration is actually doing to address childhood obesity? While many of the president’s priorities have lost steam in Congress, tackling childhood obesity is thankfully not one of them. But are the administration’s efforts on the right track?

While the First Lady has been a champion for healthy, sustainable food since the creation of her historic garden in her first days in the White House, the title of her campaign, Let’s Move, rings of food industry influence. (more…)

Secretary of Agriculture’s budget leaves school kids with paltry 10 cents extra for food

BOULDER, Colo. (Feb. 23, 2010) – USDA Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack thought his news today was positive until Chef Ann Cooper did the math.  Earlier today at the National Press Club, Vilsack announced a proposed Obama Administration $1 billion increase in the USDA budget for school food and WIC subsidies[1].

“When you do the math on 31.5 million school lunches annually, the new budget translates to a miserly dime-a-day increase per student meal,” said Cooper, known as the Renegade Lunch Lady.

“A dime –less than the cost of an apple a day– I can’t believe that any of us think that’s what it is going to cost to feed all of our children healthy school lunch,” said Cooper.

The Child Nutrition Act, reauthorized every five years, pays $12 billion to feed schoolchildren, averaging only $2.68 per day per child, with only 93 cents spent on food and the balance on operations.  While Cooper and many childrens’ health advocates applaud First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” Campaign, the current budget on deck for school food has them saying, “Oh brother.” 

The current national dialogue on children’s health issues provides a timely opportunity for better funding of school lunches. Cooper, in partnership with Whole Foods Market Inc., Slow Food USA, Roots of Change, Healthy Schools Campaign, and AllergyKids Foundation, is rallying a million citizens to write Congress to demand a$1 more per lunch, 100 percent for food. Advocates for change can find templates of letters at www.lunchboxadvocates.org.

“I believe we need to immediately implement the Institute of Medicine guidelines so that chicken nuggets, tater tots, HFCS, trans-fats, popsicles and pop tarts aren’t our children’s daily fare in public schools,” said Cooper.

Fellow renegades can join Chef Ann for lunch tomorrow in a live  free Facebook video chat, 11:30 to 12:15 am MST by visiting: http://bit.ly/chefannlive.