Related Information: Legislation School Breakfast Improvement Act - S.1020 Summer Food Service Program Improvement Act - S.1021 Child and Adult Care Food Program Improvement Act - S.1022 Congressional Research Service Reports Child Nutrition and WIC Programs: Background and Funding (PDF) Related News: more related news...

As a society, we cannot sit idly by as so many of our nation's children go hungry every day. Instead, we must face this challenge with the understanding that widespread hunger deprives so many of so much - not simply food, but the capacity to learn, grow and live full and enriched lives.

In the 108th Session, Congress made great strides in addressing the hunger that is a detriment - physically, emotionally and psychologically - to so many of our nation's youth, when it reauthorized the Child Nutrition Act. This law will make important improvements to federal nutrition programs, many of which are based on a three-part child nutrition initiative I introduced in 2003.

The new law enacts changes I proposed to the Child and Adult Care Feeding program (CACFP), which serves meals to low-income children receiving care at public and nonprofit day care centers, homeless shelters and after-school programs. In my child nutrition initiative, I proposed easing income requirements to make more children eligible for CACFP in rural areas. Congress adopted this change, along with my proposal to add a third meal for children in care for more than eight hours each day.

The new child nutrition law also makes important changes to the Summer Food Service Program. This program provides children in low-income areas with meals during summer vacation, when they don’t have access to school breakfasts or lunches. A successful pilot program to reduce the paperwork burden has already helped more communities offer summer meals in 13 states with low participation rates. The new law will expand this pilot program, adding 6 more states and many new meal stations.

I am also a strong proponent of school breakfast programs. In the past, I have worked through the appropriations process to include a pilot program that provided a direct grant to the State of Wisconsin to help schools with the necessary paperwork and equipment needed to offer breakfast.

This program has proved to be a great success in Wisconsin and deserves to be expanded nationwide. Educators throughout Wisconsin have noted the positive impact the program has had on students who otherwise would go to school hungry. Recent statistics indicate that 158 Wisconsin schools and 67,000 new students have benefited from the school breakfast program.

The health and future of our youth is fundamentally vital to the continued success of our nation. By expanding and offering nutritious meals to more children in this country, we are making a sound investment in our future.