Posted on 08/20/2015 8:24:49 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
(CNSNews.com) - The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 changed the nutrition requirements for school lunches and breakfasts, but the U.S. Agriculture Department says the law also gives schools the flexibility to prepare meals that are "familiar to kids from culturally diverse backgrounds."
Blogging at the USDA website on Wednesday, Dr. Katie Wilson, deputy undersecretary for for food, nutrition and consumer services, hailed the nation's "diversity" of people, ideas, and culture: "One of the way culture is expressed is through the foods we eat," she wrote. "Our nation's school meals should be no exception."
Wilson said she recently participated in one of USDA's "Team Up For School Nutrition Success" training workshops, where she learned how school food authorities are finding creative ways to meet the government-mandated nutrition standards while preparing meals that are "tastier and more appealing for this tough audience."
"For instance, I learned that in Puerto Rico, it is common for children to eat arroz con habichuelas y carne de cerdo (rice and beans with pork). Schools are finding ways to prepare this same meal in a healthy way that satisfies the palates of children who are used to eating it at home.
"In the same way, school children in the Southwest region of the United States enjoy burritos and refried beans that are similar to what they might have at home. In West Virginia, schools have found ways to offer healthy versions of Southern-style cooking like sausage gravy and a long-time favorite in the state—the pepperoni roll.
"Our goal at USDA is to ensure children have access to nutritious food that nourishes their growing bodies -- all while embracing diverse cultural customs and cuisines. I’m confident that through cultural inclusion and nutritious choices, schools across America will pave the way for a healthier next generation," Wilson concluded.
Under the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, school food preparation is an increasingly regulated industry. In March, the USDA published a rule, effective as of July 1, requiring a minimum amount of annual training for all school nutrition program directors, managers, and staff.
USDA said the training will vary according to the position and job requirements.
The rule also sets minimum hiring standards for new state directors of school nutrition programs, state directors of distributing agencies that oversee USDA Foods, and school nutrition program directors.
Amid the stricter nutrition standards and hiring criteria, participation in the National School Lunch Program has declined since the law was passed.
In 2010, the year the Healthy and Hunger-Free Kids Act passed, a record 31.8 million children participated into the National School Lunch Program, according to the latest data (as of Aug. 7, 2015). The same number -- 31.8 million -- participated in 2011, but then the number began to drop -- to 31.7 in 2012 (the first year the new nutrition standards took effect), 30.7 in 2013, and 30.4 in 2014.
The percentage of children getting free or reduced-price meals continues to increase, however: In 2014, 71.6 percent of children were getting free or reduced price school lunches, compared with 70.5 percent in 2013, 68.2 percent in 2012, 66.6 percent in 2011, 65.3 percent in 2010.
In 1969, the earliest year for which data is available, 15.1 percent of children were getting free or reduced price lunches.
As participation has dropped, costs have gone up. The cost of the school lunch program was $11,355,872,476 in Fiscal Year 2014, up from $10,414,118,759 in Fiscal Year 2012, partly because of rising food costs and a higher percentage of children getting free or reduced-price lunches.
As of Aug. 7, 2015, thirty-seven states showed declining school lunch participation in the three years since 2012, when the nutrition rules changed. In the remaining 13 states plus the District of Columbia, participation increased steadily only in North Dakota and the District of Columbia in those same three years.
In the remaining 12 states, participation dropped in 2013, then recovered slightly in 2014.
I don’t see why we need a federal school lunch program at all.
Back in my day, the elementary school didn’t even have a cafeteria. We all had to bring lunch from home. Somehow we all survived and grew up and had proper nutrition.
Does federal involvement in an area of life really always translate into an improvement, or solve a problem???
Some of the slop they serve in schools nowadays appears to be so unappetizing. I heard that some school wanted to set up cameras by the trash cans to document how much food was being thrown away. But the school quickly said that they weren’t going to identify students, you would just see the trays and hands of children throwing things away.
As if having video to watch would help anyone. Geez..
My Kansas school in the 50's had mutton and horse meat and prolly some mystery meats too. We looked forward to PBJ days.
The whole statement reads like someone trying to convince us that they are in the know about what kids eat...but it just makes me think they have no clue.
Yeah, that’s the ticket. /s
>>As participation has dropped, costs have gone up. . . partly because of . . . a higher percentage of children getting free or reduced-price lunches.
There is another true sign of that wonderful Obama economy Leftists like to brag about.
‘____________the day we had tater totes.’
I can’t remember ever toting taters - - - !
Or tooting taters for that matter - -
How naive you can be. How else will the apparatchiks of the federal bureaucracy get the proletariat addicted to govt. handouts? How else will they get the parents of these children to come to see the federal govt as a benevolent master? How else will they teach the little bambinos that govt is there "for the people" whenever their grubby little hand is empty?
Some people... /s
Damn, son. There ain't nothing wrong with your spell checker.
I could eat brisket for breakfast every morning.
We had a Japanese high-school exchange student a few years ago.
The folks that ran the program specifically told us: “Don’t go out of your way to make Japanese food. These kids are here to learn about America; part of that is eating American food”.
The Department of Education is an illegal entity and must be abolished.
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