Stabenow standing firm on school meal rules
September 17, 2015 |04:17 PM
Senate Agriculture Committee ranking member Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., said today she is unwilling to roll back provisions in the healthier school meal rules in order to reach a bipartisan consensus for reauthorization of the child nutrition programs.
Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich.
“We would like to have a bipartisan markup. I don’t know whether we can get together,” Stabenow told reporters after the committee marked up a bill with three other programs on a bipartisan basis.
“Things don’t have to be done,” she said, noting that if Congress does not reauthorize the child nutrition programs this year as scheduled, the meal rules established under the 2010 Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act will remain in force.
“We need to get this right,” she said, adding that the health of millions of children depends on getting the proper food at school.
Instead of talking about rollbacks, Stabenow said, the committee should focus on increasing the availability of summer meals because only 18 percent of children who eat school lunch have meals available in the summer.
Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., told reporters that getting scores from the Congressional Budget Office on child nutrition is holding up a markup and the committee reaching consensus.
Stabenow said it is true the committee has not gotten scores because CBO is so busy scoring appropriations bills and that is one reason the markup has been held up.
“The other is that there are just differences,” she said. “There is a very different view of the last five years.”
Stabenow also revealed that the Senate Agriculture Committee staff in August had discussions with the House Education and the Workforce Committee staff about developing a bipartisan, bicameral bill but that the discussions had not been successful.
The 2010 Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act required reductions in salt, sugar and sodium and increases in low-fat meat and dairy products, whole-grain-enriched foods, and fruits and vegetables.
Nutritionists and medical groups have favored the new rules while the School Nutrition Association, which represents school food service administrators and the companies that make school meals, has called for roll backs and flexibility on the grounds that the new rules have reduced participation and caused financial problems in the schools.
Stabenow also signaled that she does not favor making permanent the delays that the appropriations bills and the Agriculture Department have granted in the implementation of sodium reductions and use of whole-grain-rich cereals, bread and pasta. The delays, she said, “can only go for so long.”
And she said that getting rid of the half-cup of fruit and vegetables cannot be justified when when some children eat only at school.
“I stand with the generals,” Stabenow said, noting that Mission Readiness, an organization of retired generals and admirals concerned about young Americans not being healthy enough to be eligible for military service, had sent Congress a letter opposing the changes.
Stabenow said Roberts does not want to eliminate the requirement that students must take a half-cup of fruits and vegetables with each meal, but “there are others who do.”
Children don’t have to be told on the lunch line that “Michelle Obama is forcing you to eat broccoli,” Stabenow said, referring to the first lady’s healthy eating initiatives.
“Put green peppers and onions in tacos.”
Stabenow said she does agree with Roberts that small, rural schools need assistance in complying with the rules.
Asked about wealthier school districts asking for rollbacks on the grounds that that the healthier school meal rules had led to fewer children who pay full price buying lunch, Stabenow said she has observed that schools in districts at all economic levels can make the healthier meal rules work if school leaders want to.
“We would like to have a bipartisan markup. I don’t know whether we can get together,” Stabenow told reporters after the committee marked up a bill with three other programs on a bipartisan basis.
“Things don’t have to be done,” she said, noting that if Congress does not reauthorize the child nutrition programs this year as scheduled, the meal rules established under the 2010 Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act will remain in force.
“We need to get this right,” she said, adding that the health of millions of children depends on getting the proper food at school.
Instead of talking about rollbacks, Stabenow said, the committee should focus on increasing the availability of summer meals because only 18 percent of children who eat school lunch have meals available in the summer.
Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., told reporters that getting scores from the Congressional Budget Office on child nutrition is holding up a markup and the committee reaching consensus.
Stabenow said it is true the committee has not gotten scores because CBO is so busy scoring appropriations bills and that is one reason the markup has been held up.
“The other is that there are just differences,” she said. “There is a very different view of the last five years.”
Stabenow also revealed that the Senate Agriculture Committee staff in August had discussions with the House Education and the Workforce Committee staff about developing a bipartisan, bicameral bill but that the discussions had not been successful.
The 2010 Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act required reductions in salt, sugar and sodium and increases in low-fat meat and dairy products, whole-grain-enriched foods, and fruits and vegetables.
Nutritionists and medical groups have favored the new rules while the School Nutrition Association, which represents school food service administrators and the companies that make school meals, has called for roll backs and flexibility on the grounds that the new rules have reduced participation and caused financial problems in the schools.
Stabenow also signaled that she does not favor making permanent the delays that the appropriations bills and the Agriculture Department have granted in the implementation of sodium reductions and use of whole-grain-rich cereals, bread and pasta. The delays, she said, “can only go for so long.”
And she said that getting rid of the half-cup of fruit and vegetables cannot be justified when when some children eat only at school.
“I stand with the generals,” Stabenow said, noting that Mission Readiness, an organization of retired generals and admirals concerned about young Americans not being healthy enough to be eligible for military service, had sent Congress a letter opposing the changes.
Stabenow said Roberts does not want to eliminate the requirement that students must take a half-cup of fruits and vegetables with each meal, but “there are others who do.”
Children don’t have to be told on the lunch line that “Michelle Obama is forcing you to eat broccoli,” Stabenow said, referring to the first lady’s healthy eating initiatives.
“Put green peppers and onions in tacos.”
Stabenow said she does agree with Roberts that small, rural schools need assistance in complying with the rules.
Asked about wealthier school districts asking for rollbacks on the grounds that that the healthier school meal rules had led to fewer children who pay full price buying lunch, Stabenow said she has observed that schools in districts at all economic levels can make the healthier meal rules work if school leaders want to.
