Ag approps battle over school meals heats up
May 20, 2014 | 10:03 AM
As the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee prepares to meet this morning to consider the fiscal year 2015 Agriculture appropriations bill, the battle has heated up over provisions to give USDA authority to waive schools’ compliance with new school rules and to allow purchases of white potatoes under the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children known as WIC.
USDA has issued school meal rules under the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act intended to make those meals healthier, but the School Nutrition Association has said they are expensive and difficult to implement.
The bill would allow waivers from the rules for schools that are having financial problems meeting the requirements. But nutrition advocates are urging Congress not to interfere in the process.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a news release, “The House bill would undermine the effort to provide kids with more nutritious food and would be a major step backwards for the health of American children, just at the time childhood obesity rates are finally starting to level off.”
“School nutrition standards are developed by independent experts, over 90 percent of schools report that they are successfully implementing them, and studies show they are working to help kids be healthier,” Vilsack said.
“USDA has continued to show flexibility in implementing these new standards, and Congress should focus on partnering with USDA, states, schools, and parents to help our kids have access to more healthy food, not less.”
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., a former chairman of the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee and still a member of it, said in an email, “Schools need time to adjust to serving healthier food under the new standards and USDA has put a solid plan into place, which gives them necessary support.”
“The vast majority of American schools are serving healthier foods, and most of the students the Government Accountability Office spoke with for a recent report indicated they like to eat the healthy food their schools are serving,” DeLauro said. “To not fully support seeing through this improvement in school nutrition would be to abandon our children.”
More than 100 groups organized by the American Public Health Association sent Congress a letter Monday opposing both the school meals waiver and allowing potatoes in the WIC program. The groups said that decisions about nutrition should be based on science, not politics. (See link below)
An article in The Washington Post today noted that First Lady Michelle Obama had rallied nutrition advocates in a telephone call on Monday and also brought into full relief the battle between makers of processed foods, who dislike the new rules, and the United Fresh Produce Association, which has praised the requirement that children be served more fruits and vegetables.
Tom Stenzel, president of the United Fresh, which is lobbying against delays in carrying out the new rules, said he believes the school nutritionists organization is responding to its donor base, according to the Post.
“They are overwhelmingly dependent on the processed food industry so there is an ingrained bias toward foods like frozen pizza and chicken nuggets that have been a staple of school lunches in the past,” Stenzel said.
The Senate fiscal year 2015 Agriculture appropriations bill, which will be considered by the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee this afternoon, will not contain the school meals waiver provision, The Hill reported Monday.
▪ Letter to Congress opposing school meals waiver and allowing potatoes in WIC ▪ The Washington Post — First lady vows to ‘fight’ healthy-school-lunch rollback ▪ The Hill — GOP Takes on Michelle Obama
USDA has issued school meal rules under the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act intended to make those meals healthier, but the School Nutrition Association has said they are expensive and difficult to implement.
The bill would allow waivers from the rules for schools that are having financial problems meeting the requirements. But nutrition advocates are urging Congress not to interfere in the process.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a news release, “The House bill would undermine the effort to provide kids with more nutritious food and would be a major step backwards for the health of American children, just at the time childhood obesity rates are finally starting to level off.”
“School nutrition standards are developed by independent experts, over 90 percent of schools report that they are successfully implementing them, and studies show they are working to help kids be healthier,” Vilsack said.
“USDA has continued to show flexibility in implementing these new standards, and Congress should focus on partnering with USDA, states, schools, and parents to help our kids have access to more healthy food, not less.”
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., a former chairman of the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee and still a member of it, said in an email, “Schools need time to adjust to serving healthier food under the new standards and USDA has put a solid plan into place, which gives them necessary support.”
“The vast majority of American schools are serving healthier foods, and most of the students the Government Accountability Office spoke with for a recent report indicated they like to eat the healthy food their schools are serving,” DeLauro said. “To not fully support seeing through this improvement in school nutrition would be to abandon our children.”
More than 100 groups organized by the American Public Health Association sent Congress a letter Monday opposing both the school meals waiver and allowing potatoes in the WIC program. The groups said that decisions about nutrition should be based on science, not politics. (See link below)
An article in The Washington Post today noted that First Lady Michelle Obama had rallied nutrition advocates in a telephone call on Monday and also brought into full relief the battle between makers of processed foods, who dislike the new rules, and the United Fresh Produce Association, which has praised the requirement that children be served more fruits and vegetables.
Tom Stenzel, president of the United Fresh, which is lobbying against delays in carrying out the new rules, said he believes the school nutritionists organization is responding to its donor base, according to the Post.
“They are overwhelmingly dependent on the processed food industry so there is an ingrained bias toward foods like frozen pizza and chicken nuggets that have been a staple of school lunches in the past,” Stenzel said.
The Senate fiscal year 2015 Agriculture appropriations bill, which will be considered by the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee this afternoon, will not contain the school meals waiver provision, The Hill reported Monday.
▪ Letter to Congress opposing school meals waiver and allowing potatoes in WIC ▪ The Washington Post — First lady vows to ‘fight’ healthy-school-lunch rollback ▪ The Hill — GOP Takes on Michelle Obama
