Policies

NOURISHING THE NATION ONE TRAY AT A TIME

Improving school meals through farm to school policy in the Child Nutrition Reauthorization

UPDATE: On May 15, 2009, Glyen Holmes provided testimony at the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry field hearing entitled “Benefits of Farm to School Projects, Healthy Eating and Physical Activity for School Children. Read the full testimony here.

Where do children spend most of their waking lives for 13 years and eat at least 35 to 40 percent of their daily calories? School.

The Child Nutrition Act reauthorization is the perfect opportunity to enable more schools—and more children—to benefit from the healthy meals and educational opportunities that farm to school programs can provide.

School meals are a vital part of our responsibility to ensure the health and wellbeing of future generations. Farm to school programs ensure that our children eat the freshest, highest-quality food available. These programs deliver food that not only nourishes children’s bodies immediately, but also knowledge that enhances their educational experience and cultivates long-term healthy eating habits. They are a win-win for kids, farmers, communities, educators, parents, and the environment.

The policy recommendations we offer are solutions that are fair to American children, schools, farmers, food producers, and communities. The following explains the three most effective ways Washington can rebalance the way American children eat in schools: http://www.farmtoschool.org/files/publications_192.pdf

Resources:

Child Nutrition Reauthorization Resources:

· Nourishing the Nation One Tray at a Time

· Child Nutrition Backgrounder

· Child Nutrition Priorities

· Child Nutrition USDA Listening Session Digest

· Child Nutrition Timeline

Together, we represent millions of Americans supporting policy solutions that restore the right of all children to access good food in school; that educate and inform communities about healthy food and its impact on the wellbeing of children; and that connect farmers, school districts, food service companies, and great ideas to the food system delivering school lunch.

Every four or five years, there is an opportunity for all of those concerned with the health of our nation’s children to evaluate, defend, and improve the federal Child Nutrition Programs. Nourishing kids and community is the promise of farm to school. With the authorization of the National Farm to School Program in 2004, and the tremendous growth and interest in farm to school programs, the time is ripe to support that promise and voice ideas that include locally and regionally grown foods in national meal programs.

For more information on the priorities of the National Farm to School Network, please contact Marion Kalb at marion@foodsecurity.org, or 505-474-5782.

gardening School food, nutrition, and physical activity policies are excellent ways that schools and school districts can institutionalize their commitment to providing students with the tools and knowledge they need to live healthy lives now and in the future. Many schools and districts have already passed their own nutrition policies. Here you can read these policies and think about the needs in your own community and what your schools can offer. Every student needs and deserves access to nutrition education, healthy meals, and physical activity, a food policy is one way in which schools can help ensure that this is provided for the students of today and tomorrow.