Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack made an announcement last week that’s particularly important given current efforts in Congress to weaken school food standards relating to whole grains, sodium and fruits and vegetables.
According to the USDA, fully 95 percent of schools are now successfully meeting the requirements of the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act.
When I trumpet good news like this, I’m not insensitive to the fact that some districts are still struggling to meet the HHFKA standards. But when an overwhelming majority of districts are proving that the standards are workable, doesn’t it make more sense to help the struggling minority than to roll back the standards?
Or, as Vilsack put it in his statement:
“Updated healthy school meal standards were created based on the expert advice of pediatricians and nutrition experts and are being widely embraced by students, parents, educators, and nutrition professionals. We are very encouraged that 95 percent of schools are now successfully providing more nutritious meals to their students. We are working with schools to provide funding, training, and flexibility so that 100 percent of schools will be able to successfully serve children healthier meals. Now that we are so close to the finish line, it would be unwise to roll back healthy meal standards just as they are beginning to work to ensure our kids have access to the balanced, nutritious food doctors recommend.”
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Diane Pratt-Heavner, SNA says
Schools are REQUIRED to follow the nutrition standards and can be forced to pay back federal reimbursements if their menus are non-compliant. While 95% of schools have been certified as compliant, far too many of those are losing money and student participation under the new rules. That’s not a sustainable model for healthy school meal programs.
During last week’s Senate Agriculture Committee hearing, Cindy Jones of Olathe Public Schools, KS testified that her district’s meal program (among the 95% of certified schools) is running a deficit and experiencing declining participation under the rules. Jones warned that due to these financial challenges, Olathe cafeterias may have to end their practice of offering unlimited fruits and vegetables to students. This is the type of unfortunate, unintended consequence that many compliant schools struggle with.
School Nutrition Association supports most of the new mandates, including calorie and fat limits, mandates to offer larger portions and a wider variety of fruits and vegetables, and reasonable sodium and whole grain requirements. But to address these unintended consequences and ensure the standards are “workable” and “successful” for all schools and students, Congress needs to provide more funding and flexibility.
Diane Pratt-Heavner
School Nutrition Association