Funding the Child Nutrition Act
Posted by Jeff Wiedner on Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal reported on a new Census Bureau report, which shows that the percentage of children living in poverty has increased in 26 states and the District of Columbia. This confirms what many have suspected for some time—that the recession is putting more children at risk of hunger.
In an interesting coincidence, the Child Nutrition Act, which supports a variety of food programs that help kids at risk of hunger, is set to expire today.
The school breakfast and lunch programs are permanently authorized, but other programs such as summer feeding and the Special Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), are not. They need to be reauthorized every five years.
This year our President fully supports not only reauthorizing it, but wants to improve these programs.
Share Our Strength agrees and, along with many other national organizations, signed on to the Child Nutrition Forum’s Statement of Principles to express support for a re-authorization bill that strengthens these important programs.
Our federal child nutrition programs have been successful and cost-effective. However, they haven’t kept pace with what’s really needed today. We’re asking the Administration and Congress to pass and provide funding for a Child Nutrition Reauthorization Bill that, among other things:
- Improves access to nutritious foods at home, in schools (breakfast and lunch) and childcare, through afterschool programs, on weekends, and during the summer.
- Provides more nutritious food and promotes healthy eating habits for women and children to help fight undernourishment, child obesity and related health problems.
- Updates and streamlines the way these programs are run so they can serve more families more readily, efficiently and effectively.
These are attainable, but the programs need an increase in funding to be truly effective.
Right now, it’s expected that the re-authorization will be put on hold until next month. But we can’t afford to keep putting these programs on the back burner. We need Congress to make the time to make the Child Nutrition Act stronger and ensure that it is properly funded to meet the needs of the working poor.
September 30, 2009 | | Tags: child nutrition act, classroom, hunger
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