| This week, Tom Vilsack had a conference call with reporters (you can listen to it at the link) about the Obama administration's priorities for the Child Nutrition Reauthorization. All in all, he said very little. He made no comment about whether or not the USDA would adopt the recently announced Institute of Medicine recommendations for school lunch, for example. And while he noted that the Obama administration wants an additional $1 billion per year for the next 10 years for child nutrition, he did not say what he or Obama wanted as the reimbursement rate - the amount spent per school breakfast or lunch.
In general, he wants three things. First, better access to school nutrition programs for children. Second, healthier school lunches. Third, less errors made by the federal government in managing the school lunch program. |
| In the case of access, he actually did elaborate when asked. There are two problems here. One is that a kid who is eligible for free or reduced cost school lunch may not get signed up for it. The second is that a kid who is signed up may not actually get their free lunch because they are embarrassed to do so due to some sort of social stigma attached to it.
In the first instance, it may be that the kid is bringing home some kind of paperwork for the parent to fill out and that form may get lost in a bookbag where the parent doesn't find it. Or it could just be that this is one more form the parent is filling out after already going through other processes and filling out other forms for Medicaid, Food Stamps, CHIP (children's health insurance), and whatever state programs they may qualify for. That's a hassle. Given that these other programs are already verifying that the parent's income is below a certain level, Vilsack would like to see "direct certification" for school lunch programs occur. That means that the government would stipulate that if you qualify for one program, you automatically qualify for school lunch and you don't have to fill out a second form.
Vilsack didn't speak in much detail about the other problem, but he did mention that kids might be hesitant to take part in any program that made them look different from their peers - like a free lunch program that requires them to get in a separate lunch line from the "normal" kids who pay for their lunch.
The big news Vilsack had about making school lunches healthier is that he and the Obama administration are FOR setting a national standard on the nutrition of ALL foods served in schools, including a la carte and vending machine items. That is a change from current policies. Right now school food is, by and large, a free for all where anything goes. I look forward to seeing that changed. Vilsack mentioned that he wanted to see kids eating more dark green and orange vegetables, fruits, low fat and nonfat dairy, and whole grains. He wants them to eat less sodium, refined grains, and "discretionary calories" (I think that's a nice euphemism for "junk").
The most entertaining question was asked by Tom Ritter of WNAX, a radio station in South Dakota. He wanted to know Vilsack's thoughts on the Baltimore school district's participation in Meatless Mondays. Vilsack first claimed ignorance about the specifics of the program and then totally weaseled his way out of the question by speaking about the importance of federal nutrition standards for school meals. |
