Congress Renews Child Nutrition Programs:
Bill Includes New Leahy Provisions To Keep Milk On School Lunch Trays And To Bring Local Farm-Fresh Produce To School Lunchrooms

WASHINGTON (Friday, June 25) – Congress has passed and sent to the President’s desk a broad reauthorization of the nation’s child nutrition programs, including several provisions to improve school lunch nutrition and to keep milk on the menu, authored by Sen. Patrick Leahy.  The Senate passed the bill on June 23 and the House of Representatives followed suit the next day.

The package, the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004, includes Leahy provisions that will create a federal grant program to bring fresh local produce into school lunchrooms, codify requirements that school lunch programs continue offering milk, and increase the federal funds small states receive for administering child nutrition programs. 

“These programs are the cornerstone of our nation’s fight against childhood hunger, and they also must help us improve child nutrition and help reverse alarming trends toward greater childhood obesity,” said Leahy, a senior member and former chairman of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee.  “Providing a child with healthy alternatives to junk food, like choices between different types of milk and fresh vegetables, will go a long way in stemming poor nutrition and child obesity.”

Leahy’s Farm-To-Cafeteria program will charter a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) grant program to help schools connect children with local farms by bringing fresh local foods to their cafeterias and by implementing hands-on nutrition education programs.  Under the program, schools or non-profit groups would be eligible to apply for grants of up to $100,000 to buy locally grown foods and the equipment needed to store and prepare them. A similar program exists in Vermont run by the Vermont Food Education Every Day (FEED) Program, a partnership between Shelburne Farms, Food Works, and the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont that has successfully implemented pilot farm-to-cafeteria programs in several Vermont communities, including Burlington, Jay, Starksboro, Waitsfield and Milton. 

Leahy’s dairy provisions will ensure that dairy products remain a vital part of the federal school meals program by retaining requirements in federal school nutrition programs to require schools to offer milk as part of a healthy school meal plan.  The provisions also authorize schools to sell milk products throughout the school day, without regard to soda exclusivity contracts -- contracts Leahy says are hurting children’s health.  Without Leahy’s provisions, a broader definition of nutritional beverages threatened the availability of milk at schools. .

Leahy also successfully worked to include a higher all-state minimum in the bill which will ensure that smaller states like Vermont receive a greater percentage of the federal funds available for administering child nutrition programs. 

The package of child nutrition reforms will be delivered to the White House for the President’s signature.  Leahy said the President is expected to sign the bill.  

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