The Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee approved by voice vote on Wednesday a bill to reauthorize for five years child nutrition programs that expired in September, including the National School Lunch Program, the Summer Food Service Program, and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).
The bill endorses requirements for healthier school meals–including more fresh fruits and vegetables–that were priorities for first lady Michelle Obama and mandated by the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. But the legislation would relax the requirement for whole grains to 80 percent from 100 percent, allowing schools to offer more options such as white rice or tortillas, and would postpone for two years lower sodium requirements slated to kick in next year, according to Bloomberg.
Officials of the National School Board Association and School Nutrition Association said they welcomed the compromises in the Senate bill, which they see as the first bipartisan effort to ensure healthy school meals for children. Several critics have said it can be difficult or expensive to find healthy, whole-grain options meeting the requirements of the 2010 law that schoolchildren will eat.
The committee’s ranking member Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) stressed that the bill preserves a commitment to healthier school meals while providing more flexibility.
Now it is up to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) as to the timing of when to bring the bill to the floor, and for the House Agriculture Committee and Education and Workforce Committee to review the Senate package. Timing will ultimately be determined by the release of the Congressional Budget Office scoring report with a vote on this bill or a version of it is expected in the coming months.
