Improving Child Nutrition

Today, the House will vote on the “Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act,” a child nutrition bill that will dramatically improve the quality of meals in school and child care centers. It will also increase the number of healthy meals available to needy children and provide the first real increase in the federal reimbursement rate for school lunches in more than three decades. It will also connect more children to healthy produce from local farms by helping communities establish local farm-to-school networks, create school gardens and use more local foods in school cafeterias.

In Maryland, more than 430,000 kids from all income levels participate in the national school lunch program. This bill will give our state an additional $4.2 million to improve school lunches.

The bill is paid for by phasing out increases in the food stamp program passed in last year’s economic stimulus bill. Statistics show that one out of three children in our country is overweight, which is deeply troubling.  Offering healthy food choices in schools and day care facilities can help America battle our obesity epidemic.  I also believe that a good school lunch can improve overall school performance. This bill has already passed unanimously in the Senate and I look forward to supporting it today.