School Lunch Reform

Congress takes up the Child Nutrition Act Reauthorization this fall.  For anyone with school aged children this is important legislation to be aware of.
the National School Lunch Program provides meals to more than 30 million students nationwide. (1)

The included programs in this legislation:
-- National School Lunch Program (NSLP)
-- School Breakfast Program (SBP)
-- Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP)
-- Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP)
-- Summer Food Service Program (SFSP)
-- Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)
-- WIC Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program (FMNP)(4)

Right now one of the biggest problems is the ala carte menu.  

“The dietary guidelines for the a la carte line hasn’t been updated since the 1970s,” Steines says. “So students can purchase beverages or snack items that don’t meet the USDA dietary guidelines.”

Susan Levin, Director of Nutrition Education for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PRCM), also based out of DC, says there's an even bigger problem than the a la carte line: the food pyramid that school lunch programs follow. Levin says the pyramid, which was created by the USDA, is flawed because it favors the interests of agricultural industry. Specifically, she says, the allowances for fat are too high.

"And eighty percent of schools do not meet the USDA standards for fat composition," Levin says. She explains that in addition to reimbursing schools for a portion of their lunches, the USDA gives the schools overproduced meat and dairy products for free--products that are fat and sugar laden. "The USDA is paying industry--huge corporations--for their overproduced goods," she says.(1)

Industry politics are creeping into the classroom.  Another the vending machines allowed in schools are a significant hurdle to the issue of nutrition.  The priority appears to lean towards companies/industry profits and not the interests of our children.

"The U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) released a report in 2003 titled, “School Lunch Program: Efforts Needed to Improve Nutrition and Encourage Healthy Eating.” ...The GAO reported that officials said they run the risk that students will buy fewer school lunches when they introduce healthier foods, resulting in loss of needed revenue." (1)

It is possible that at least 84 million gallons of milk from artificial hormone-treated cows were distributed through the school nutrition programs in fiscal year 2005-2006 - or about one out of five pints of milk offered in school cafeterias nationwide.  Besides the documented increase of infections in dairy cows injected with rBGH, which necessitates increased use of antibiotics, there are ongoing questions about links to cancer in humans. As a result, most of the industrialized countries in the world have banned this hormone. (3)

State laws have a say in how we can refine this system.  The most important thing is to get involved wherever and whenever you can.
There are several organizations championing this cause.  I'll try to post updates here as I can and welcome any discussion on this topic.

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1.  School Lunch Nutrition: What You Need to Know

2.  Let’s (re)do school lunch | Grist
Source: www.grist.org
Environmental news and green living tips from Grist, the most recognizable voice in environmental journalism.

3.  Take action to get rBGH-free milk into school

Roughly 15 percent of all dairies (mostly large dairies) in the United States inject their cows with an artificial growth hormone called recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH) that increases cows' milk production.

We launched our campaign this year to get milk produced with artificial hormones out of schools once and for all, and have delivered more than 25,000 petitions to members of Congress asking them to clarify that schools do have the option to purchase rBGH-free milk or organic milk.  We'll continue to work on this ask; Congress takes up the Child Nutrition Act Reauthorization this fall.

4. USDA Food and Nutrition Service: CN Reauthorization Listening Sessions