‘Egregious’ Findings in the San Francisco School District
The San Francisco Chronicle reported last week that San Francisco schools have had to pick up the entire bill for the school lunch program. Inspectors found "critical" program violations in the district and have cut off federal and state funding until the district shapes up. Phyllis Bramson-Paul, the director of the ...
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October 28, 2009
IOM Releases Nutrition Recommendations for School Meals
The current nutrition standards for school meals are in sore need of an overhaul. They haven't been updated since 1995, and they're not in line with the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The USDA tried for several years to bring the regulations up to date, but after running into problems ...
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October 20, 2009
Could Tiny Rhode Island Become a School Lunch Model?
I attended a Slow Food Eat-In in Tiverton, Rhode Island yesterday, and over delicious salads and home-baked bread, I talked to Jennifer Quigley-Harris from Kids First and learned some amazing things about school food in the Ocean State. This month, new nutrition standards for cafeteria meals take effect in all Rhode ...
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September 8, 2009
A Sampler of School Lunch Loopholes
As Congress gears up for this year's child nutrition reauthorization, there has been a lot of discussion about the loopholes in the National School Lunch Program. For the most part, though, those discussions have focused on the laughably outdated list of "foods of minimal nutritional value" and the junk food that cafeterias ...
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June 22, 2009
Free Lunch, Nachos and Junk Food: A Few Interesting Links
A sampling of today's school lunch news from around the internet: Student participation in free or reduced-price lunch programs is at an all-time high, with almost 20 million kids eligible for the subsidized meals. In the past year, enrollment has jumped over 10 percent in Utah, Arizona, Vermont and New Jersey. ...
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June 11, 2009
National School Boards Association Opposes Federal Regulations at Hearing (Again)
By Deborah Lehmann — You'd think school boards would be one of the biggest supporters when it comes to promoting student health. Think again. The National School Boards Association made another appearance before Congress today to speak against federal regulation of foods sold in schools. In March, Reginald Felton, director of federal ...
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May 14, 2009
The Best of School Food (And What it Says About Our Standards)
By Deborah Lehmann — Here's what the USDA considers a gold-standard school meal: Entree: Waffle sticks with sausage and syrup OR Jumbo Corndog OR Fiesta taco pocket with taco packet OR Peanut butter and jelly or yogurt with fruit and nut mix Sides: Cheetos Cracker Trax or Shape Up, raisins Fat-free chocolate milk or 1% ...
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May 9, 2009
The Harkin and Woolsey Bills: What they Will and Won’t Do
By Deborah Lehmann — There are now bills in both the House and the Senate that would require the USDA to regulate all foods sold in U.S. public schools. That means the USDA will be able to set standards for snacks and drinks in vending machines, cafeteria a la carte lines ...
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May 7, 2009
Harkin Introduces School Food Bill in Senate
By Deborah Lehmann — Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) introduced legislation last week that would tighten the regulations on foods sold in schools. The bill parallels Lynn Woolsey's Child Nutrition Promotion and School Lunch Protection Act of 2009, which was introduced in the House in March. Both bills would give the secretary of ...
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May 6, 2009
Great Profile on America’s Soda Lobbyist
The Des Moines Register ran an article last week about the lobbyist for the American Beverage Association, who is using her role as a mother to encourage Congress to limit, but not ban, sugary drinks in schools. Interestingly enough, she also worked on the ad campaign that helped kill Hillary ...
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April 16, 2009
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