As we approach the Child Nutrition Reauthorization in Congress – the every-five-year funding of child nutrition programs – lawmakers will have the opportunity to weaken some of 2010’s biggest school meal improvements with respect to sodium, whole grains and fruits and vegetables.
We already know how the big players feel about this. The School Nutrition Association (SNA), the nation’s largest organization of school food workers, has been leading the charge for school meal roll-backs and, so far, it seems to be getting a sympathetic ear on Capitol Hill. On the other side of the equation, numerous leading public health advocates and organizations are strongly opposed to weakening school meal standards.
But what about ordinary Americans? Do they particularly care about any of this?
According to a new poll released yesterday by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the answer seems to be a resounding “yes.”
In a phone survey conducted this past May, 1,200 randomly selected adults were asked their feelings about school food and other food-related topics. The big findings:
- 93 percent of respondents say it’s very important or somewhat important to serve nutritious foods in school;
- 67 percent say the nutritional quality of food served in public school cafeterias is excellent or good — up 41 percent from a national survey conducted by the foundation in 2010, before the new healthier standards were adopted;
- 86 percent say school food nutrition requirements should stay the same or be strengthened; and
- 83 percent would support increased government funding for kitchen equipment and training to help schools serve healthier meals.
(You can read more here.)
These findings are great news for those who support staying the course on the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. But will Congress pay attention to ordinary Americans’ support for strong school food standards, or will their voices be drowned out by lobbyists and powerful organizations like the SNA?
Stay tuned.
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JoAnne says
Thanks for sharing this info. I just have to wonder about the knowledge level of the ordinary Americans who comprise this “86 percent say school food nutrition requirements should stay the same or be strengthened”. And, I have a valid reason to speculate on that. I have conversations with “ordinary Americans” all the time, and I find their opinions about the school meals served in the very school where they send their kids, or where some even teach, to be out of touch with the foods, the variety and the quality of those foods, offered each day. I read a grant proposal submitted by a PE teacher claiming fruit was never offered for lunch at her school – a building where I know two or more varieties of fruit (at least one every day being fresh) were offered. So…, unless this survey included info on the school meal pattern and the complex nutrient specifications currently in place, the answer to this on might not mean much.
Bettina Elias Siegel says
That’s a fair point, JoAnne. Before I wrote this post I did look at the actual questions posed to respondents, and they definitely didn’t get into the weeds by discussing exactly what the HHFKA currently requires on whole grains, sodium, etc. (And, by the way, most people would probably hang up long before the caller got through all of that – LOL.) So yes, that’s a definite limitation of the poll.
But it’s still notable that people clearly perceive school food as healthier than it was pre-HHFKA, that they support (in broad strokes) what the HHFKA stood for, and that they would approve of greater funding to support schools with equipment and training. I don’t think we can or should discount those sentiments, do you?
Dana Woldow says
I think our members of Congress, who will be voting on any proposed changes to school meal rules this year, should take note of the fact that the overwhelming majority of people surveyed don’t want school meal regulations weakened.
This runs directly counter to what the School Nutrition Association (on behalf of their Big Food sponsors) has been lobbying Congress about this year – they want to gut existing regulations that would result in less healthy meals.
Whether or not those surveyed thoroughly understand the issue, their belief that school meal regulations should not be loosened reflects the will of the voters whom these members of Congress represent, and who will ultimately be voting on whether or not to return those members to Congress for another term. Were these folks not elected to carry out the will of the people? Food for thought.
Monika R says
I find that lately people have indeed been more interested in seeing less ingredients in foods, healthier school lunches and even genital mutilation (known as circumcision and performed mostly in USA and Israel, almost NOWHERE else in the world, harmful and causing complications later in llife – do your research on european medical forums, not American) is in decline. People are slowly getting more informed. Facebook, Twitter, online petitions, it does make a difference. Keep up the good work and thank you.