[fullwidth background_color=”” background_image=”” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_opacity=”0.5″ video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding_top=”20″ padding_bottom=”20″ padding_left=”0″ padding_right=”0″ hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” menu_anchor=”” class=”” id=””][title size=”1″ content_align=”left” style_type=”underline solid” sep_color=”#000000″ margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” class=”” id=””]Bipartisan Senate agreement to reauthorize child nutrition programs for five years winning praise from health advocates[/title][fusion_text]Monday, January 18th 2016
A bipartisan Senate agreement to reauthorize child nutrition programs for five years is winning praise from health advocates despite easing standards for whole grains and sodium. The 210-page draft bill, which the Senate Agriculture Committee released on Monday, would lower the whole grain requirement in school meals and delay for two years additional reductions in sodium limits. Aside from those changes, the legislation locks in the gains in nutrition requirements that the Obama administration implemented under the expired Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. The standards have been a top priority of First Lady Michelle Obama. he deal between Senate Agriculture Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., and the panel’s ranking Democrat, Debbie Stabenow of Michigan “preserves the important progress made on improving school food in the last five years while giving a bit of flexibility to those school systems that are still finding some of the standards challenging,” said Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy for the Center for Science in the Public Interest. The School Nutrition Association, which released key details of the legislation on Friday, said it would provide schools with “critical flexibility.” The bill would allow 80 percent of grain products served in schools to be whole grain rich, down from the current standard of 100 percent. The reduction in sodium limits would be delayed from the 2017-2018 school year to 2019-2020. The School Nutrition Association, which represents school district nutrition directors, had asked Congress to block any further reduction in sodium limits, slash the whole grains requirement to 50 percent and allow schools to decide whether students are required to take a fruit or vegetable. No change was made in the fruit and vegetable requirement. SNA failed to convince the committee leaders to authorize an increase in the federal reimbursement rate for meals. The legislation also would expand summer feeding efforts for children and boost a farm-to-school program for schools. The Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, which provides fruits and veggie snacks to schools, would be tweaked to provide a hardship exemption that schools could use to buy other forms of fruits and vegetables, including frozen. The expansion in summer feeding includes a provision that would families to get food assistance via an electronic benefits transfer (EBT) card, similar to the way food stamps are now provided. In other cases, meals could be provided to kids to take home. The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition praised committee leaders for doubling funding for the farm-to-school program from $5 million to $10 million a year.
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