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House Acts To Expand Child Nutrition Programs
Pallone Says The ‘Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act’ Will Address The Quiet Crisis of Hunger In America |
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Washington, D.C. – Taking an historic step with the most significant improvement to child nutrition in thirty years, the House on Wednesday approved and sent to the President the “Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act,” which will greatly expand nutrition programs for hungry children in America.
“There is a quiet crisis of childhood hunger that has become worse in recent years and this bill will meet the problem head on with significant resources,” said U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. “No child should go hungry in America. No parent should have to watch a child go hungry. We are a better country than that and we have the ability to do something about it.’
The Hunger-Free Kids Act re-authorizes and expands existing programs such as the National School Lunch Program, the School Breakfast Program, the Women, Infants and Children Program and the Child and the Adult Care Food program and it launches new initiatives to reach more kids with more nutritious meals. The two major goals are to reduce childhood hunger and combat childhood obesity, an increasingly serious problem which also results from inadequate nutrition.
The bill will authorize $4.5 billion in additional resources over the next 10 years, giving schools the ability to expand and improve their free and reduced-priced meals with an increased reimbursement of six cents per meal. It also provides incentives to states to identify and feed more hungry children. It is fully paid for with offsets from other programs.
The school lunch program currently serves more than 700,000 children in New Jersey, the WIC program serves an additional 174,000 people and CACFP provides for another 74,000 in New Jersey.
“Children can’t learn if they are plagued by hunger in the classroom,” said Pallone. “For many, the food they receive at school is the only good meal of the day. That is why it is so important to build upon the success of the programs that work through the schools.”
The improvements include embracing higher nutrition standards and wellness policies that will promote better health and combat obesity for America’s families and children.
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