The USDA announced today that Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack will continue his campaign for reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act, otherwise known as the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, with a speech at the National Press Club on September 8. Vilsack has been very public of late in his support of the program, pushing back against its critics and urging Congress to move on reauthorization. The act, which funds school-meal programs, is up for renewal this month.
Passed in 2010, the act set higher standards for school meals, requiring more fresh fruit, vegetables and whole grains, and less sodium. It was a signature achievement of the Obama administration. The new standards have been criticized as too costly for school districts, but food companies are now on board with the changes because the new lunch program has been profitable.
The USDA says at the NPC event the secretary will call on Congress to reauthorize a strong suite of child nutrition programs, and will be joined by Dr. Sandra Hassink, the president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and Jessica Donze Black, the director of child nutrition at the Pew Charitable Trusts. On Tuesday, Vilsack made the case for Congress not to “take a step back” on feeding programs at an appearance at the Center for American Progress.
Gabrielle Levey writes in U.S. News and World Report that another worry about reauthorization is the glut of critical legislation that remains to be passed in a short period of time. The reauthorization debate is slated to coincide with a ten-day stretch that Congress has set for debating the Iran nuclear deal and funding the government.