School lunches test Congress' appetite for spending SouthCoastToday.com:
"Here's what everyone agrees on: Too many kids are fat. The food they get at school, which provides 35 percent of most schoolchildren's calories, is not nutritious enough and tastes lousy, to boot. And there's not enough money to change this unwholesome picture.
So here's the question: How much will it cost to fix school lunch?
Congress will seek the answer this fall as it budgets for childhood nutrition programs, which include about $12 billion annually for school meals. There is no lack of proposals. The nonprofit School Nutrition Association is asking for a 35-cent-per-lunch increase in the federal reimbursement rate, which now stands at $2.68. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., wants a 70-cent raise. Berkeley, Calif., chef and local-food pioneer Alice Waters is lobbying to bring the total to $5 per student. The administration, too, supports improving school food, at least rhetorically: President Obama has proposed an additional $1 billion for child nutrition programs, including school lunch, in his 2010 budget. Michelle Obama is promoting healthful eating as a signature issue."
"Here's what everyone agrees on: Too many kids are fat. The food they get at school, which provides 35 percent of most schoolchildren's calories, is not nutritious enough and tastes lousy, to boot. And there's not enough money to change this unwholesome picture.
So here's the question: How much will it cost to fix school lunch?
Congress will seek the answer this fall as it budgets for childhood nutrition programs, which include about $12 billion annually for school meals. There is no lack of proposals. The nonprofit School Nutrition Association is asking for a 35-cent-per-lunch increase in the federal reimbursement rate, which now stands at $2.68. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., wants a 70-cent raise. Berkeley, Calif., chef and local-food pioneer Alice Waters is lobbying to bring the total to $5 per student. The administration, too, supports improving school food, at least rhetorically: President Obama has proposed an additional $1 billion for child nutrition programs, including school lunch, in his 2010 budget. Michelle Obama is promoting healthful eating as a signature issue."