childhood nutrition
Food company coaches schools on ‘whole-grain waiver strategy’
A food service management company that operates in 600 U.S. school districts is offering them, in the words of its vice president for nutrition, “instructions” on how to get a waiver from the USDA requirement to serve whole-grain-rich bread, pasta, and baked goods to their students, said The Lunch Tray.
Food directors oppose block grants for school meals
With Congress settling into its election year agenda, the School Nutrition Association, speaking for school food directors, says lawmakers should oppose any effort to convert funding for school food programs into block grants.
Local and diverse can displace flavorless and generic in school food
The cafeteria menus in many public schools "suggest a universal idea of what constitutes American food," with tacos as an ethnic crossover, says Civil Eats. "Now, change is under way. Cafeterias have begun to incorporate ingredients like wild rice and buffalo and serve items ranging from poi to fajitas."
USDA to extend ‘flexibilities’ for school food, maybe for years
In a Federal Register notice today, the USDA announced it will extend its “three flexibilities” for school menus — salt, whole grains, and flavored milk — into the 2018/19 school year. It will also invite comment on the “long-term availability of the flexibilities,” which Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue introduced at an elementary school on his sixth day in office.
Fifteen New York City schools to adopt Meatless Monday
Beginning next spring, 15 schools in Brooklyn — a sliver of the 1,800 public schools in New York City — will participate in the Meatless Monday campaign by serving vegetarian breakfasts and lunches, city officials announced. Mayor Bill de Blasio said the mayor's residence, Gracie Mansion, also would go meatless for its Monday meals.
Three more districts join big-city alliance that stresses healthy school food
School districts serving Philadelphia, Baltimore and Las Vegas joined the Urban School Food Alliance, which now serves 3.6 million students in 10 of the largest U.S. districts with a combined $735 million a year in purchases of food and supplies. The alliance launched a procurement initiative in 2014 for antibiotic-free chicken, and said this year that its members would not relax school lunch standards despite a USDA offer of flexibility on salt and whole grains.
Obese children live in less-advantageous settings
Household characteristics and food environments may have the strongest influence on children's weight, says a USDA report, although no single factor has been identified as the leading contributor to childhood obesity. Obesity rates among U.S. children more than doubled over the past three decades, says the USDA report by economist Young.
Melania Trump replants White House garden
Study: Timing of SNAP benefits tied to poor test performance
A new study by economists at the University of South Carolina found that kids whose families got their monthly SNAP benefits several weeks before a big math test did worse on the test than those who got their benefits closer to the test date, reports NPR.
For Texas high school students, a low-cal latte before first period
Timber Creek High School in Keller, Texas, opened a coffee bar that sells lattes, mochas and iced blended coffee drinks along with muffins and fruit cups to students, joining several other schools in the Forth Worth area that offer the caffeinated perk, reports the Star-Telegram. "We have a generation that drinks coffee," said a food-service manager for the Keller schools who oversees the coffee shop.
D.C.’s major food bank just cut junk food by 84 percent in a year
A year ago, Washington D.C.’s Capital Area Food Bank — one of the largest food banks in the country — decided to turn away junk food, joining a growing trend of food banks who are trying to offer healthier options to low-income Americans. From soda to chips, the CAFB has reduced the junk food it supplies to its 444 nonprofit partners, including soup kitchens and food pantries, by 84 percent.
Spotty progress in slowing obesity rates across U.S. states
Obesity continues to rise in the United States, with rates now exceeding 35 percent in five states, compared to four states in the previous year. But there are signs that adult rates are leveling off, says the annual State of Obesity report. Rates are holding steady in more states and for the second year in a row, at least one state showed a decline.
USDA slowdown of school lunch rules ‘says that we listened’ — Perdue
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue mixed humor, keen political rhetoric and "a fiercely unapologetic tone" as he explained why he ordered a slow down in USDA school food rules in one of his first decisions in office, says the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Perdue defended the decision during a speech to the School Nutrition Association, which represents school food directors.
Participation in summer meals program drops for first time in five years
Some 3 million school-age children participated in USDA's summer nutrition program in 2016, down 5 percent from the previous year and the first decline after four years of significant growth, said the antihunger Food Research and Action Center. The program, which provides a daily meal, reaches a much smaller group of low-income children than the school lunch program, about one in seven.
Little stomach among lawmakers for Trump cuts in food aid
Even among America First lawmakers, there is little appetite for President Trump's proposals to eliminate programs providing $1.8 billion a year in food aid overseas. Members of the House Agriculture Committee defended the six-decade-old Food for Peace program, the largest of U.S. food aid program, during a hearing where questions veered toward how to improve the programs rather than building a case for termination.
Pediatrics group says kids and fruit juice don’t mix
The American Academy of Pediatrics says that far from being a healthy drink, "Fruit juice has no essential role in healthy, balanced diets of children." American children between the ages of 2 and 18 consume almost half their fruit intake in the form of juice, but doctors warn that has to stop.
Anti-hunger groups to raise nutritional content of food-pantry items
Last week, Feeding America, the nation's largest hunger-relief organization, announced a plan to boost the nutritional content of food distributed at food pantries, including more fresh produce, whole grains, and lean proteins, reports The Washington Post.
U.S. bill to stop ‘lunch shaming’ is narrower than vanguard New Mexico law
The bipartisan bill filed in the House and Senate would stop four "lunch shaming" activities in public schools but would not assure students would get a hot meal, says Bettina Elias Siegel, who writes The Lunch Tray blog. The congressional legislation was modeled on a New Mexico law that requires all children receive the standard school meal, even if their family owes money on a food account.