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School Related Reports 1. Pilot Programs Finds that Requiring School Lunch
Income Verification Does Not Deter Ineligible Applicants, Reduces Access
for Eligible Households This issue brief, by Philip Gleason and John Burghardt, details two approaches to ensuring that free and reduced-price school meals go to eligible families. The brief finds that direct certification is useful in improving program access, although it could reach even more eligible households. This policy is embodied in the 2004 Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act. However, a pilot program that required free and reduced-price meal benefit applicants to provide income documentation with their applications did not deter ineligible households from applying and being approved for these benefits, and it did reduce access to these benefits among eligible households 9. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns Presents First
HealthierUS School Challenge Awards Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns presented the first HealthierUS School Challenge awards to three elementary schools in the Brownsville, Tennessee area and one elementary school in Slidell, Louisiana. The challenge builds on USDA's efforts to improve nutritional quality of school meals. The Tennessee schools received silver awards, meaning that they met higher nutritional standards than the basic federal government requirements in the National School Lunch Program and encouraged physical activity among students. Cypress Cove Elementary, in Louisiana, received a gold award, meaning it met even higher standards: healthy standards for all meals offered anywhere in the school at any time of day (or avoid serving or selling any food or drink other than school meals). 10. Former President Bill Clinton Encourages Schools
to Serve Healthier Foods Former President Bill Clinton announced that his William J. Clinton Foundation and the American Heart Association are creating programs to stop the increasing prevalence of childhood obesity in the United States by 2010. Former President Clinton pointed out that the national prevalence of obesity among children was 16 percent, 20 percent in the southeast, and up to 25 percent in Alabama and Mississippi. The alliance will encourage schools to serve healthier foods and increase physical activity among students. Also, it will focus on encouraging children between the ages 9 to 13 to lead healthier lives and further efforts by food manufacturers and restaurants to serve smaller portions of healthier foods. Tools and continuing education opportunities for better prevention and treatment of obesity in children will be created through work with health care groups. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/04/health/04obese.html 12. Grant Awarded to End Childhood Hunger in the Nation's
Capital The Sodexho Foundation, Sodexho USA's charitable organization, announced a grant in the amount of $75,000 to support an initiative that will seek to eradicate childhood hunger in the nation's capital. The initiative is also receiving funding from the Case Foundation. The initiative, led by D.C. Hunger Solutions, the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) and Share Our Strength, will design and implement a 10-year strategic plan to end childhood hunger in the District of Columbia and ensure access to the nutritious food children need to grow, thrive and learn. The plan includes identifying gaps in currently available services in neighborhoods. Sodexho Foundation President Stephen J. Brady said "We believe childhood hunger is a solvable problem." http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050504/clw060.html?.v=7 16. Connecticut: Poll Supports Ending Soda Sales, Increasing
Exercise in Schools A poll conducted for the anti-hunger group End Hunger Connecticut! found that 70 percent of adults in the state would support a law that would permit only the sale of water, milk and fruit juice to students. Also, the poll found that 80 percent favor increased physical activity for school children. Legislation is currently moving through the Connecticut state house that would require 20 minutes of daily exercise in elementary school and would eventually restrict the types of snacks available to students in all grades. Experts said removing soda from vending machines would not be a financial problem for schools. "People think students are getting healthy foods all the time in school, and, generally, they are. But there is a lot of other stuff out there, too," said Lucy Nolan, executive director of End Hunger Connecticut! http://www.connpost.com/news/ci_2709454/ci_2687621 End Hunger Connecticut! web page following school nutrition
legislation, media: 17. West Virginia: School Food Service Professionals
Serve Students, Elderly, All Year Beverly Blough, director of Wood County Schools Food Service Department in Parkersburg, West Virginia, says the iconic image of the school cook is outdated and misleading. "School cooks...are some of the unsung heroes in the school district," she points out. In addition to serving and preparing lunches, school food service professionals prepare snacks during school hours, meals for summer and afternoon programs, and meals for the elderly. From October 1, 2004 through February 28, 2005, Wood County Schools prepared 6,510 meals for the local senior center, 13,742 meals for home delivery to the elderly, and meals for the Wood County Senior Citizens Association. The Association is a Title III C program's licensed adult day service, which helps watch loved ones for people while they work. Seniors rely on the meals for sustenance and socialization, according to Kimberly Flanigan, interim director of the Senior program. http://www.newsandsentinel.com/news/story/0426202005_new01school.asp
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