[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=””]Student cooking event on Capitol Hill showcases how Child Nutrition Act is user-friendly[/title][fusion_text]Thursday, June 11th 2015
In an effort to rally support for the reauthorization of higher nutrition standards mandated by the Child Nutrition Act, Democrats used a student cooking event today on Capitol Hill to showcase just how user-friendly those standards are. The top nine high school teams in this year’s Cooking Up Change competition served lawmakers their winning dishes using recipes that follow both the budgets and USDA guidelines used by their own school cafeterias. The teams came from Houston; Washington, D.C.; Detroit; Chicago; Jacksonville and Orlando, Florida; Wichita, Kansas; Memphis, Tennessee; and Orange County, California. Each meal had to integrate whole grain-rich products, reduced amounts of sodium, and a half-cup of fruits and vegetables into their dishes. Examples of recipes served at the event include citrus parfait, vegetable lo mein, Haitian spice chicken and Japanese onion soup. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, hosted the luncheon event and encouraged attendees in her opening remarks to support higher nutrition standards for children, especially the use of more fruits and vegetables in school lunches. Last week, House Democrats Tim Ryan of Ohio, Sam Farr of California and Frederica Wilson of Florida introduced a bill called the Salad Bars in Schools Expansion Promotion Act. The bill would require USDA to develop a promotional plan for salad bars in schools that participate in federal lunch programs. Using that plan as a guide, USDA would support the expansion of salad bars by providing technical training and grants to schools for the utilization and purchase of salad bar equipment. Notably, the proposed legislation would be “budget neutral,” as it does not mandate Congressional appropriations, so USDA would be responsible for awarding salad bar grants using existing resources.
[/fusion_text][/fullwidth]