healthy food - CONGRESS FIGHTS OVER SCHOOL MEAL MONEY - SIBEJO

Rep. Todd Rokita�s (R-IN) proposal in the House child nutrition bill to conduct a block grant pilot program for school meals in three states �demonstrates a broader effort to block grant the school meal program nationwide,� said Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT). If the pilot program were approved, states that were chosen would be given a capped amount of money for child nutrition programs to use as they see fit. The one requirement is that they provide at least one affordable meal a day. According to the School Nutrition Association, block granting a program makes it easier to eliminate. The House bill also would raise the threshold for schools to participate in the community eligibility program to 60% of students in poverty, thus eliminating the ability of 7,000 schools to offer free lunch to all students, and would eliminate that option for 11,000 schools currently eligible but not participating.

Source: The Hill, 7/5/16, School Food Fight; Center for Budget & Policy Priorities, 7/8/16, Child Nutrition Bill

healthy food - REPUBLICANS PROPOSE TO TEST SCHOOL MEAL BLOCK GRANTS - SIBEJO

House Republicans are proposing to test funding school meal programs through block grants as part of the House child nutrition reauthorization bill. If passed, the pilot would be tested in three yet-to-be-determined states. Republicans claim the Improving Child Nutrition and Education Act of 2016, which passed through committee last month, gives schools flexibility to find ways to help children and families in need. But critics, including the School Nutrition Association, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and the Food Research & Action Center, say participating schools would lose all paid-meal reimbursements and 6-cent-per-lunch reimbursements collected by meal programs certified as meeting federal nutrition standards.

Source: The Hill, 6/15/16, Block Grants

healthy food - Current proposal cuts funding for school meals - SIBEJO

The Republican proposal to test block granting school meal programs in three states would likely cut school meal reimbursements, according to critics of the plan, which include FRAC. It�s estimated that, under block grants, California could lose $78 million in federal reimbursements, Texas could lose $72 million, Georgia $30 million and North Carolina $24 million annually.

Advocates: School meal budgets could lose millions under GOP plan � The Hill, June 15, 2016

healthy food - HOUSE COMMITTEE WORKS ON CHILD NUTRITION BILL - SIBEJO

The House Education and Workforce Committee, on which Representative Stefanik serves, completed drafting its bill last week to reauthorize the Child Nutrition and Education Act. The bill, critics contend, contains a number of damaging provisions, including: shrinking coverage of the community eligibility provision and inadequately investing in the Summer Food Service Program and the Child and Adult Care Food Program. The bill would reduce access to the programs, water down nutrition quality, and increase administrative burdens on both schools and families, they say. ? ?This legislation also includes a three-state school meal block grant demonstration pilot to replace School Breakfast, Lunch and other school meal programs. The funding would be capped at the amount a state received for the programs and administrative funding in FY 2016. The pilot states would have broad discretion to:

• establish eligibility rules for free or reduced-price meals;
• decide the length or time of year that meals are provided;
• and abandon the current nutrition standards (meals are only required to be �healthy�).

Source: Food Research  & Action Council, 5/18/16, Child Nutrition Bill; Center for Budget & Policy Priorities, 5/17/16, Child Nutrition Bill II

healthy food - Economic impact of local food in school lunches - SIBEJO

Research findings from Cornell University's Community and Regional Development Institute indicate that a 50% increase in demand for fresh, local fruits and vegetables one day/week in school meals could generate up to $9.2 million for vegetable producers and $5.3 million for fruit producers. These findings contribute to the idea of creating incentives for school districts to purchase more local produce for school meals. Click here to view the policy brief.

healthy food - Survey Results: Farm to School in Early Care and Education Builds Healthy Kids with Bright Futures - SIBEJO

In 2015, the National Farm to School Network surveyed early care and education providers across the country. Nearly 1,500 providers serving 183,369 young children in 49 states and Washington, D.C., responded and shared fascinating insight into the important work that they are doing to connect young children to healthy, local foods and food related educational opportunities. The results show that farm to school in early care and education is on the rise across the country. 54% of respondents are already doing farm to school activities and another 28% plan to start in the near future. A new infographic and factsheet are available with more survey results. To see the results and learn how the National Farm to School Network is working to expand farm to school in early care and education, visit farmtoschool.org/earlychildhood. 

healthy food - KIDS ARE EATING HEALTHY SCHOOL LUNCHES - SIBEJO

Schools can serve healthy lunches, but whether kids will eat them is a question that has been asked often since 2012-13, when updated national nutrition standards led districts across the United States to raise the nutritional quality of their meals. Multiple studies comparing students� eating habits before and after these changes show that the answer is clearly yes.  For example, researchers from UConn�s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity weighed and photographed lunches served to children at 12 Connecticut schools. Compared with 2012, the amount of their entrees that children ate increased by nearly 13 percentage points in 2013, and 18 percentage points of their vegetables by 2014. Food waste declined as a result. The researchers also found that greater variety led to healthier choices. Each additional fruit option offered was associated with a 9.3% increase in fruit servings selected by students.

Source: Pew Charitable Trust, 4/14/16, School Lunches

healthy food - Webinar: How to Successfully Implement Salad Bars in Your School Cafeteria - SIBEJO

Let's Move Salad Bars to Schools

Thursday, April 28, 3pm ET

School salad bars are one of the easiest ways to meet the fruit and vegetable standards for school lunch, increase participation in the lunch program, reduce plate waste and increase student�s fruit and vegetable consumption. The Let�s Move Salad Bars to Schools initiative has donated salad bars to more than 4,500 schools nationwide and has resources to help schools successfully implement salad bars. Hear from school food service directors about their experience with salad bars and how you can apply for salad bars from LMSB2S. Register here.

healthy food - Project Produce: Fruit and Veggie Grants for Schools - SIBEJO

The Chef Ann Foundation has $250,000 available to support school lunchroom learning programs. Project Produce: Fruit and Veggie Grants for Schools is a grant program designed to help increase kids� access to fresh fruits and vegetables and create experiential nutrition education when and where students make their food choices: in the cafeteria. The $2,500 one-year grants support food costs to incorporate school-wide fruit and vegetable tastings into the school's nutrition program. Any district or independent school participating in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is eligible to apply. Grants will be determined on an ongoing basis depending on available funding; there is no application deadline. Learn more here. An information webinar about applying for the grants will be offered on Wednesday, April 27 from 4-5pm ET. Register here. 

healthy food - 2 BREAKFASTS MAY BE BETTER THAN 1 - SIBEJO

A recently published study, found that weight gain among children who ate both breakfast at home and at school was no different than that seen among all other students. Meanwhile, the risk of obesity doubled for students who skipped breakfast or participated inconsistently. Researchers suggested several reasons for this outcome, including the fact that school breakfast is generally healthy, and students who skip breakfast are likely to overeat later in the day. And, of course, just the fact that growing adolescents often need a lot of food to grow means that they can eat more without necessarily gaining weight.

Source: NPR, 3/17/16, 2 Breakfasts

healthy food - U.S. MAKES IT EASIER FOR KIDS ON MEDICAID TO GET SCHOOL MEALS - SIBEJO

A new federal initiative will make it easier for low-income children who receive Medicaid to get free or reduced-price meals at school automatically, with no application required. Expanding a project launched in 2012, USDA is now accepting applications from any state that wishes to use Medicaid data to automatically enroll children for free or reduced-price school meals.  Six states ? Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania already use Medicaid data to enroll children for free school meals; now they can use this data to enroll children for reduced-price meals. 

Source: Center for Budget & Policy Priorities, 3/17/16, Medicaid & School Meals