The U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, held a conference call last week with about a thousand of his closest friends to talk about the Obama administration’s initiatives on child nutrition and physical activity. He started by describing the twin problems that make this a high priority for the administration: obesity and hunger. A third of the nation’s children are overweight, and 16.5 million children live in food-insecure households — those with hunger or fear of starvation.
For decades, the federal government has sought to address child hunger through programs such as the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, Snack Program, Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, and Child and Adult Care Food Program. These programs are coming up for review as part of the reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act, which will occur this year, and attention will also be given to how they reduce obesity. Vilsack says the Obama administration is committing an additional $1 billion to this effort.
However, I was disappointed not to hear from Secretary Vilsack or see in the Obama budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2011 a clear commitment to fund Farm to School programs, which aim to get locally grown food served to children in school cafeterias. Among the groups working to do so are the National Farm to School Network and the Community Food Security Coalition.
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Dive into said
I was on this call, too. My sense was that, after a caller mentioned their own district’s success in a farm-to-school type program, that Vilsack envisioned a virtual clearinghouse of idea-sharing via the USDA website. While this isn’t as good as funding such programs, perhaps the best-practices shared in this way will spread farther and wider and then more folks can advocate for funding.
In the meantime, we can help pave the way for more opportunities for legumes, grains, vegetables, and fruit to make their way into school meals. Such meal options are high in fiber and low in fat so help prevent (and reverse) excessive weight gain and the chronic diseases that can follow from obesity.
I recommend visiting HealthySchoolLunches.org.