The National School Boards Association (NSBA) has issued a press release calling for flexibility and relief from the U.S. Congress and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to address the unintended consequences of onerous requirements
for federal school meal programs in the Healthy, Hunger - Free Kids Act with the start of National School Lunch Week on Oct. 13.
Since 2000, the percentage of children eligible
for the federal school meals program has increased by 38 % — from 26 % in 2000 to 36 % in 2009.
Not exact matches
-- we can not achieve the level of improvement we would like
for our kids without major changes to the whole
federal school meal program.
The new contract spells the end of the district's short - lived foray into the National
School Lunch
Program, which provides
federal reimbursements in exchange
for offering healthy free or reduced - cost
meals to low - income students.
It is presenting these
meals under the supervision of the National
School Lunch
Program, which provides
federal funding in exchange
for meeting certain requirements.
She works with Oregon
schools and other
programs sponsoring the
School Breakfast
Program, National
School Lunch
Program, and other
federal meal programs for children.
WITS is part of the First Lady's «Chefs Move to
Schools» planning team, so it was all the more surprising when the NYC DOE revoked authorization
for the
program, claiming the WITS fresh, scratch - cooked
meals don't meet the new
federal school meal regulations.
By increasing children's participation in
federal school breakfast and summer
meals programs, the No Kid Hungry North Carolina
program could not only offer kids more food but also could garner more
federal funds
for the state, according to WRAL.
Understand the
federal guidelines
for procurement and the formal and informal processes
for procuring food
for school meal programs.
By placing some parameters on
school food budgets as part of reauthorization legislation, Congress could generate funds
for the
meals programs and ensure that
federal funds are spent on the purposes that it intends.
There is no regulatory requirement that
federal reimbursements
for free and reduced price
meals be spent only on those
meals or that records differentiate between the costs and revenues of the various aspects of the
school food
program.
The loss of
federal funds has stung city
school officials, who started the
program with the idea that they would get
federal money to help pay
for the free
meals, which are being served from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at various elementary
schools during the strike.
Every district participating in the
federal meals program is required to have a written policy that includes nutrition guidelines
for all foods available at
school (hello, birthday cupcakes!)
Learn more about what today's students are looking
for on their
school lunch menus, and get an overview of participation trends in
federal school meals programs.
Though there is a nearly two - year - old state mandate that opens the free summer lunch
program to all children in Illinois — whether or not they're in summer
school — there has not been much improvement in participation, and officials say millions of
federal dollars available
for the
meals are going untapped.
The
federal government reimburses states and
schools for the cost of the
meals, and any
school or qualified community agency can use these
programs to ensure that no child goes hungry.
FNS oversees, among other
federal feeding
programs:
school breakfast and lunch; daycare
meals (via the Child and Adult Care Food
Program); SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program, formerly known as Food Stamps); and WIC (the Special Supplemental Nutrition
Program for Women, Infants and Children).
The bad is that fewer than one in five children eligible
for the
program nationwide use it - 2 million a day last summer, compared with the 12 million who get free or reduced - price
meals during the
school year, according to
federal estimates.
-LSB-...] options
for school food — the
federal school meal program and an a la carte menu — has been shown to create painful stigma among kids who must,
for financial reasons, rely on the
school meal.
Yet,
for all its faults, the
school meal program is one of the most successful
federal social endeavors of all time, right up there with Medicaid and Social Security.
For most Vermont
schools, the per -
meal reimbursement and commodities provided by the
federal school breakfast and lunch
programs is not sufficient to cover all of these
school meal program costs.
Nearly all of the state's 54
school districts have signed up
for the
program, and the
schools are buying Alaska food they couldn't afford when they received only
federal support amounting to less than $ 2 a
meal.
The conservative lawmaker who came up with the idea — after he'd been attacked
for refusing to supplement the
federal school -
meal program — said last spring he feared creating an entitlement
program.
Still another policy called
for by SNA would extend the comment period on the «Smart Snacks in
Schools» standards which,
for the first time ever, will (beginning July 1st) impose some regulations on «competitive foods» sold at
school outside of
federal meal programs, including at a la carte snack bars, vending machines, and student stores.
In this role, she is responsible
for leading the efforts to improve public policies to end hunger, reduce poverty, promote nutrition and increase the availability of healthy affordable food in low - income areas; maximize participation in all
federal nutrition
programs (SNAP,
school meals, early childhood nutrition, WIC, and summer
meals); and educate the public about both the stark reality of hunger's existence in the nation's capital and the real opportunities
for effective solutions.
Christian's project contributes about $ 250,000 toward the cost of the
program and receives about $ 1 in
federal school aid through the Chicago Public
Schools for each
meal served, according to Maureen George, the project's
program director.
All
federal child nutrition
programs —
school breakfast and lunch, WIC, child care
meals, summer food and after -
school snacks — were up
for Congressional reauthorization in 2009, which was later postponed to 2010.
And I also recognize that you don't have to be a political conservative to object to these incidents; they've also been used as fodder
for arguing against GMOs (contained in those Ritz crackers) and against the inextricable links between agribusiness and the
federal school meals program, among other issues often raised by the political left.
The session was a reaction to a study conducted
for the U.S. Department of Agriculture last October that disclosed that National
School Lunch
Program meals do not meet
federal dietary guidelines
for healthful nutrition practices.
Your second opening is the Child Nutrition Act, the
federal legislation that establishes and sets the guidelines
for our nation's
school meals programs and the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)
program.
But now Representative DeLauro has just introduced the Safe Chicken and Meat
for Children Act of 2015 which, if passed, will permanently ban Chinese meat and poultry from
federal child nutrition
programs, including
school meals.
Schools: Nutrition Hubs
for Children Hear how your
school can be a nutrition hub while effectively implementing
federal meals programs.
Stefanik and Suzanne Bonamici, D - Ore., gained 15 co-sponsors in December on legislation to expand parameters of a
federal program that reimburses child care providers, Head Start
programs, homeless shelters and after -
school programs for serving nutritious
meals.
She had this to say, «Given that the role of the
federal school meal program is to provide nutritious
meals to students who may otherwise have no access to healthy foods - I wouldn't recommend banning flavored milk unless you have a comprehensive plan in place to compensate
for the lost nutrients when kids stop drinking milk altogether.»
NSBA is committed to fostering a healthy and positive learning environment
for children to succeed, and
federal school meal programs are important.
By David McClendon and Jenny Eyer, Center
for Social Measurement and Evaluation Across Texas, over 3 million low - income students qualify
for free or reduced - price
school meals through federal programs such as the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakf
school meals through
federal programs such as the National
School Lunch Program and the School Breakf
School Lunch
Program and the
School Breakf
School Breakfast...
Gentzel calls
for the elimination of overly prescriptive requirements, urging Congress and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to «grant autonomy and relief
for school districts to successfully administer
school meal programs by enacting policy to make implementation feasible within available
federal resources.»
KIPP was founded in Houston in 1994, and has grown to 109
schools serving over 32,000 students in 20 states and Washington, D.C. Over 95 percent of students enrolled in KIPP
schools are African American or Hispanic / Latino, and more than 80 percent qualify
for the
federal free and reduced - price
meals program.
«Our public
schools are committed to providing healthy, nutritious
meals for all students, but overly prescriptive and unnecessary
federal mandates are proving challenging
for school boards to meet and are raising
meal costs that can then divert resources from the instructional
program,» said NSBA Executive Director Thomas J. Gentzel.
The Healthy, Hunger - Free Kids Act (HHFKA) provides funding
for six major
federal school meal and child nutrition
programs:
Federal school meal programs are an important part of fostering a healthy and positive learning environment
for children to succeed.
HHFKA provides funding
for federal school meal and child nutrition
programs.
This effect of including
federal funds reflects the fact that the bulk of
federal education dollars are allocated based largely on the income profile of the communities
schools serve, primarily through
federal subsidies
for free and reduced price
meals and under Title I of the ESEA.19 But because subsidies
for school lunch
programs are the largest source of
federal funds flowing to
schools, those concerned with equity must determine how expenditures of those non-instructional funds are considered.
Applications are due to the State - level agency administering the
Federal school meal programs by August 31, 2015, to ensure implementation of CEP
for the 2015 - 2016
school year.
Federal program funds are distributed through VDOE to participating
school divisions and residential child care institutions
for meals and snacks served to students.
Mission: Readiness continues to advocate at the state and
federal levels
for t smart investments proven to help address the primary disqualifiers
for military service, such as high - quality early care and education
programs, rigorous K - 12 education standards, healthy
school meals, and physical education.