(UPDATED COVERAGE, 3:20 p.m.) A series of school nutrition events in April and May will highlight the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s push for changes in legislation from Congress to reauthorize the Child Nutrition Act.
The agency plans to detail a number of suggestions to reduce hunger and improve child nutrition, according to a USDA news release.
The USDA is sponsoring the meetings, and other participants include foodservice workers, school officials, community members, nutrition advocates, parents, children and government officials.
The first event is the week of April 5 in Little Rock, Ark. Other events are planned in April and May in South Carolina, Florida, Nevada, Michigan, Connecticut, Montana, Indiana and California.
More details and specific dates for the events will be released later, according to the release.
Lorelei DiSogra, vice president of nutrition for the Washington, D.C.-based United Fresh Produce Association, said the meetings appear to be planned to build grassroots and political support for greater investment in child nutrition legislation. Specifically, the Obama administration is looking for Congress to deliver $1 billion per year in added investment to child nutrition programs that the president proposed earlier this year.
“It is all about building support for the White House and USDA priorities for school nutrition,” she said. “We totally agree with those priorities.”
DiSogra said it has been 15 years since school meals have been in compliance with dietary guidelines, but the involvement of first lady Michelle Obama in the anti-obesity effort and the USDA’s aggressive outreach on the issue give DiSogra hope the momentum is there this year for landmark legislation.
She praised the introduction of the Healthy Food in Schools Act of 2010 by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and cosponsor Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., in mid-March. That is a companion bill to the Children’s Fruit and Vegetable Act, introduced in the House of Representatives in December 2009 by Rep. Sam Farr, D-Calif., and Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Fla.