TheWeekInCongress.com

Week ending June 25 2004

S 2507 Improving School Lunches for children

BRIEF

   The bill aims to provide children with increased access to food and nutrition assistance, to simplify program operations and improve program management, to reauthorize child nutrition programs.

The Committee report accompanying the bill explains the meal aspect of the programs;

   ‘The National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs provide cash subsidies to participating schools and residential child care institutions for all lunches and breakfasts served that meet federal nutrition guidelines. Larger subsidies are granted for free and reduced-price meals served to lower income children.

   The Child and Adult Care Food Program subsidizes meals and snacks served by day care centers and family day care homes. In centers, higher subsidies are given for free and reduced price meals/snacks served to lower-income children. In day care homes, subsidies generally are not varied by individual children's family income, but are larger for homes located in lower-income areas or operated by lower-income providers.

   The Summer Food Service Program subsidizes food service operations by public and private nonprofit sponsors in lower-income areas during the summer months: all meals/snacks they serve are subsidized, generally without regard to individual children's family income.

   The Special Milk Program operates in schools and residential child care institutions without a lunch program and subsidizes all milk they serve.

   All of these subsidies are inflation-indexed and are paid only where meals/snacks meet federal nutrition standards. In addition to cash aid, providers in the school lunch and the child and adult care food program receive food commodities from the Agriculture Department at a set value per meal. Grants also are made to help cover state administrative expenses.

   The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (the WIC program) provides nutrition services and tailored food packages to lower-income pregnant, breast-feeding, and postpartum women, and infants and children who are judged to be at nutritional risk. Other federal programs/activities include: the Nutrition Education and Training Program, a Homeless Children Nutrition Program, a commodity supplemental food program, a WIC Farmers' Market Nutrition Program and a Food Service Management Institute.’

Sponsor: Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS)

Vote: Passed Senate by Unanimous Consent. Passed House by voice cote.

Cost to the taxpayers: $16.8 billion for 37 million children and 2 million low income and post-partum women yearly. ## All Rights Reserved. No reproduction or distribution without written permission from TheWeekInCongress.com