Action Needed to Pass Child Nutrition Reauthorization

Dear Partners,                                            

As many of you know from our October 6^th alert on this issue, the House did not take up the Senate version of the child nutrition reauthorization (CNR) bill, the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (S. 3307), prior to adjourning in late September. With the lame-duck session set to begin and with a large number of must-pass items on the agenda, now is the time to work to ensure that CNR is addressed when Congress returns next week.

Recent news reports indicate that two key House Democrats from New England - Rosa DeLauro (CT) and Jim McGovern (MA) - will now support the Senate CNR bill's passage. They previously opposed passage of the Senate bill because it is partially paid for with offsets from the SNAP program (food stamps). The White House has indicated that it will work to restore the SNAP funding.

Action Steps

1. On November 15 and 16, please contact your Representatives and urge them to support the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (S. 3307). Contact information for your Congressional offices is available here. The following talking points may be helpful in speaking with your members:
   
   
   • With 1 in 4 kids hungry and 1 in 3 obese or overweight, we need a child nutrition bill now. Investing in child nutrition programs will go a long way toward reducing child hunger and childhood obesity.
   • The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act will enable schools to provide nutritious food to students, helping them succeed in the classroom. It will also increase low-income children's access to afterschool and summer meal programs.

   If you are calling Reps DeLauro or McGovern, you may want to acknowledge and thank them for their support to move this bill during the lame-duck session.

2. Help build momentum to put CNR back on the Congressional agenda and pass the Senate CNR bill by sharing this video on child hunger and obesity with your networks.
   
3. Please save the date for a national grassroots call with Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack at 2p.m. on Monday, November 15. Secretary Vilsack will talk about why it's important to push for the passage of Child Nutrition Reauthorization and will highlight new data on childhood hunger. We will send out more information about this call when it becomes available.

We continue to be deeply appreciative of the time and effort you have put into this important issue. As always, please contact me with any questions or concerns at (617) 275-2929 or arosenthal@communitycatalyst.org.

Sincerely,

Amy Rosenthal
Project Director