By Stephanie Rodriguez, Policy Intern
I remember getting in line as a third grader for school lunch and looking forward to having some yummy chocolate milk. As a kid I knew that milk was supposed to be good for me. Now that I am older I realized that the milk in our public schools is not as healthy as I previously believed. With the flavoring and the added sugar it turns out to be almost the equivalent of a glass of soda.
This is just one example of the problems found in the school lunch programs with oversights in the nutrition standards. That is why Michelle Obama has been a strong proponent of passing the Child Nutrition Bill and has been advocating for it all year. Through her campaign to raise a healthier generation of kids she has gathered supports from different coalitions across the nation. Now that the bill has finally been approved by Congress and is on its way to being signed by President Obama. When the bill is enacted it would affect the lives of 31.2 million children who participate in the federally funded school lunch program.
The controversy behind this bill is that the cost of $4.5 Billion will be financed by cutting food stamps over the next couple of years.
Democrats put aside their disagreements on Thursday, after concluding that it was better to take what they could get than to gamble on their chances in the next Congress when Republicans will control the House. Mr. Obama tamped down concern by telling Democrats he would work with them to find other ways to pay for the bill, before the cuts in food stamps take effect.
Here are some of the provisions of the Child Nutrition Bill:
- Nutrition standards for items sold in vending machines;
- Schools would be required to serve more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy products;
- Increase federal reimbursement for school lunches for the first time in 30 years;
- Allow children with Medicaid to qualify for free school meals, which will amount to 100,000 new children.;
- Schools will raise lunch prices for families of four that earn more than $40,793;
- Provisions to better train school cafeteria workers and create a system that would alert schools of food recall or contamination;
- Commits $40 million in federal funding to help communities set up farm-to-school programs, which encourage schools to buy from local farms and establish school gardens.
The overlaps between food politics issues like child nutrition and reproductive justice are vast. What we feed ourselves, and especially what kind of food our children (particularly low-income children) have access to has a huge impact on our lives.
Let’s just hope Obama makes good on his promise not to fund this bill by cutting food stamps. That’s like feeding kids better at school while letting them go hungry at home.
By Stephanie Rodriguez, Policy Intern
