Food Security on the Table: Will the Reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act Mean Big Change for Hungry Kids?

When U.S. President Harry Truman signed the National School Lunch Act in 1946, ensuring that school children be guaranteed a meal, he proclaimed that, "in the long view, no nation is healthier than its children." I don't think many people would dispute the truth in that statement, which is why it is so mind-boggling that as a nation we have indeed undermined the health of our children and are now faced with record rates of childhood obesity and food-related health problems. At the same time, thousands of children in America are hungry, and depend on the food they are served in school once (or twice) a day as their main meal. The Child Nutrition Reauthorization, an act originally signed into existence by Lyndon Johnson in 1966, would expand and redefine the school meal programs. If these acts have failed to make a significant positive impact on the health of our children in the past, how can we ensure that they address the problems at hand effectively in the future?

The reauthorization will hopefully combine four bills that are in both the house and senate, which address various aspects of child nutrition and food security. Combined under the reauthorization, this would equal an ambitious act that could have major benefits for childhood nutrition. Some of the desired outcomes and initiatives would include expanding existing programs and introducing National Lunch and Breakfast programs at more schools, and extending meal programs year-round, even during summer vacation. One of the most exciting pieces of expanding these programs is the new effort to streamline the paperwork process necessary to receive free and reduced-cost meals, which is often a daunting task for parents and is a real roadblock to connecting hungry kids with food services they qualify for. The USDA has also sought diet recommendations from medical experts to revamp school meals and offer more whole grains, fruits, and vegetables.

There's more to the reauthorization goals than those three points, and I encourage you to take a glance at Secretary Tom Vilsack's recent press release on the topic. But basically what you need to know is that it all sounds good. Really good. In theory, the Child Nutrition reauthorization, in conjunction with Michelle Obama's recently launched Let's Move! Campaign could put a real dent in both childhood hunger and turn the tide of obesity. But there's one not-so-small problem with all of this, and particularly with the nutrition act, that could mean a major lapse in the effectiveness of all these programs. You may have guessed already: Money.

Funding is yet again one of those pesky problems, and while this administration seems to have made these issues a priority and its intentions sound solid, it all comes down to putting the money where their mouth is. In reality, national school lunch programs can only improve and expand if schools are reimbursed at a higher rate per lunch. Currently the government pays about $2.68 per meal per child in the national meal programs. That's a pretty cheap meal, and it can only equal pretty cheap food. If we want all of our children to access healthy food in school, we're going to have to invest a bit more money in food quality.

It's difficult to acknowledge the great need for and demand more funding in the midst of a recession, when government spending is already through the roof. But to return to Truman's declaration, the future of our country very much depends upon a more concerted effort to grow healthy kids. Encourage your senators and representatives to support a funding increase for programs included in the Reauthorization of Child Nutrition Act!

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