Vilsack defends school meal rules, as Republicans criticize them
June 17, 2015 |12:12 AM
The never-ending conflict between the Obama administration and House Republicans over the school meals rules under the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act were evident Tuesday when Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack testified before the House Education & Workforce Committee on reauthorization of child nutrition programs.
The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act was passed in 2010 when Democrats controlled both houses of Congress as well as the White House.
In an opening statement, House Education & Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline, R-Minn., said, “What we have learned from students, parents, school nutrition professionals, government watchdogs, other key stakeholders, and yes, even the Department of Agriculture, is that the latest reauthorization of federal child nutrition laws is the most far-reaching and costliest in a generation.”
“Current law requires the department to prescribe how much money schools charge for meals, what food can and cannot be served in schools, and how much of it can be served,” Kline continued.
“In other words, Washington is responsible for deciding what and how much our children eat. These regulations have created an environment where students are not getting the nourishment they need, and food and taxpayer dollars wind up in the trashcan.”
Kline noted that Julia Bauscher, president of the School Nutrition Association, “conveyed to the committee the concerns she is hearing from school nutrition professionals across the country.”
“Julia described how regulations are resulting in harmful consequences that threaten the ability of schools to best serve students,” Kline said. “She went on to decry the ‘sharp increase in costs and waste and the historic decline in student lunch participation under the new requirements.’ ”
“We are often told that more than 90 percent of participating schools are complying with the law,” Kline said.
“First, as we learned from the Government Accountability Office, it is highly likely this number is overly optimistic. But let’s not forget that schools that choose to participate must comply with the law. The question isn’t how many schools are in in compliance, the question is: At what cost?”
Vilsack testified that “the children across the nation are benefitting from nutritional improvements in meals and other food sold in schools, better access to meals through the community eligibility provision and the expansion of snacks and suppers for at-risk children through the child and adult care food program.”
Kline told Vilsack he was concerned that athletes are not getting enough food.
Vilsack said athletes “can bring a snack to school, there is a sharing table where students can share, there are vending machines selling healthy snacks. So there are ways to deal with this.”
Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-Va., suggested that students were bringing snacks to school only with the permission of USDA, and that one day USDA might take away that permission.
Vilsack quickly said “I was not saying they were allowed to bring snacks,” and that USDA will never promulgate a rule that children cannot bring snacks from parents to school.
He did say he agrees with a bill proposed by Rep. Glenn Thompson, R-Ga., and Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn., that would allow schools to serve flavored 1 percent fat milk as long as the serving does not exceed 150 calories.
Thompson noted that milk consumption has gone down under stricter USDA milk fat content rules.
Vilsack said he agreed with the committee that the error rate in school meal purchases is unacceptable, and suggested that Congress grant USDA the right to investigate more than 3 percent of schools per year.
He also noted that USDA has offered schools more than $94 million in grants to implement the new rules, but that $24 million remains unused.
The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act was passed in 2010 when Democrats controlled both houses of Congress as well as the White House.
In an opening statement, House Education & Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline, R-Minn., said, “What we have learned from students, parents, school nutrition professionals, government watchdogs, other key stakeholders, and yes, even the Department of Agriculture, is that the latest reauthorization of federal child nutrition laws is the most far-reaching and costliest in a generation.”
“Current law requires the department to prescribe how much money schools charge for meals, what food can and cannot be served in schools, and how much of it can be served,” Kline continued.
“In other words, Washington is responsible for deciding what and how much our children eat. These regulations have created an environment where students are not getting the nourishment they need, and food and taxpayer dollars wind up in the trashcan.”
Kline noted that Julia Bauscher, president of the School Nutrition Association, “conveyed to the committee the concerns she is hearing from school nutrition professionals across the country.”
“Julia described how regulations are resulting in harmful consequences that threaten the ability of schools to best serve students,” Kline said. “She went on to decry the ‘sharp increase in costs and waste and the historic decline in student lunch participation under the new requirements.’ ”
“We are often told that more than 90 percent of participating schools are complying with the law,” Kline said.
“First, as we learned from the Government Accountability Office, it is highly likely this number is overly optimistic. But let’s not forget that schools that choose to participate must comply with the law. The question isn’t how many schools are in in compliance, the question is: At what cost?”
Vilsack testified that “the children across the nation are benefitting from nutritional improvements in meals and other food sold in schools, better access to meals through the community eligibility provision and the expansion of snacks and suppers for at-risk children through the child and adult care food program.”
Kline told Vilsack he was concerned that athletes are not getting enough food.
Vilsack said athletes “can bring a snack to school, there is a sharing table where students can share, there are vending machines selling healthy snacks. So there are ways to deal with this.”
Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-Va., suggested that students were bringing snacks to school only with the permission of USDA, and that one day USDA might take away that permission.
Vilsack quickly said “I was not saying they were allowed to bring snacks,” and that USDA will never promulgate a rule that children cannot bring snacks from parents to school.
He did say he agrees with a bill proposed by Rep. Glenn Thompson, R-Ga., and Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn., that would allow schools to serve flavored 1 percent fat milk as long as the serving does not exceed 150 calories.
Thompson noted that milk consumption has gone down under stricter USDA milk fat content rules.
Vilsack said he agreed with the committee that the error rate in school meal purchases is unacceptable, and suggested that Congress grant USDA the right to investigate more than 3 percent of schools per year.
He also noted that USDA has offered schools more than $94 million in grants to implement the new rules, but that $24 million remains unused.
