Child Nutrition Law to Improve School Meals

Dear Partners,                                            

We wanted to provide you with the latest information and resources regarding the implementation of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, which reauthorized the federal child nutrition programs.

Proposed Rule on School Meal Programs
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has released a proposed rule that would revise the meal patterns and nutrition requirements for the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program. This proposed rule would increase the availability of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free and low-fat milk in school meals; reduce the levels of sodium and saturated fat in meals; and help to meet the nutrition needs of school children within their calorie requirements. Comments on this proposed rule are due by April 13, 2011.

The hope is that the implementation of this proposed rule will result in more nutritious school meals that improve the dietary habits of school children and protect their health. For a short presentation summarizing this proposed rule, please click here. If you plan to submit comments, please let us know if you need any assistance.

Implementation Timeline
The USDA also released a detailed implementation timeline that includes information on different provisions in the law, statutory deadlines for actions, and estimated timeframes. This document is a useful guide for planning activities around the implementation of the law, both in terms of responding to regulations when they are released for comment and in working with state and local officials to act on various provisions.

Additional Information
Finally, we wanted to alert you to an archived series of webinars sponsored by the Food Research and Action Center. These webinars examine multiple provisions of the law and provide steps to make their implementation successful.

If you have any questions about the implementation of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, please contact Patrick M. Tigue at (617) 275-2931 or ptigue@communitycatalyst.org. Thank you for your continued health advocacy on behalf of New England's children.

Sincerely,

Amy Rosenthal
Project Director

 
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