School Nutrition Advocates Push for National Standards

As negotiations on the Farm Bill continue, school nutrition advocates are preparing another push for national standards on foods sold in public schools. After Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) failed to get a national standards amendment on the Farm Bill, advocates focused efforts on expanding the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP). Now that the bill is stalled in pre-conference negotiations, the School Nutrition Association (SNA) is planning a new campaign for national standards through independent legislation.

Next week, SNA is holding its annual Legislative Action Conference on Capitol Hill. In advance of this conference SNA released a statement that it will urge Congress to require science-based, yet practical, uniform national school nutrition standards to govern the sale of all foods and beverages available during the school day. SNA’s priorities include:

• Giving the Secretary of Agriculture the authority to regulate and enforce the sale of food and beverages outside of the cafeteria.
• Requiring all a la carte and competitive food sales to be consistent with the Dietary Guidelines, as is required for school meals.
• Requiring national uniformity for the school meal pattern throughout the country. Children in all states and local districts need the same nutrients to grow and to be healthy. The current lack of uniformity is increasing the cost of the programs.

As the Farm Bill made its way through the Senate last fall, Sen. Harkin attempted to attach an amendment that would have put similar standards in place. However, due to the overly-contentious debate over the amount of amendments that Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) would allow, Harkin chose to forgo efforts to attach his amendment, allowing other Senators to advance their own priorities. The amendment’s language was based on S. 771, Child Nutrition Promotion and School Lunch Protection Act, which Harkin introduced last year. Whether or not that legislation will move forward before the end of the 110th Congress remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, Congressional leaders met with the White House this week to negotiate overall spending for the Farm Bill. Earlier this month, House leaders proposed $6 billion over baseline, and received the President’s support, so long as offsets did not include raising taxes. President Bush continues to oppose any tax increases, preferring to find offsets in the form of spending cuts. The House proposal did not receive a warm welcome among Senators, but the two sides negotiated an agreement for $10 billion above baseline. The Administration is refusing to sign onto the proposal until all of the offsets are out on the table. Lawmakers only have two weeks before the current Farm Bill expires.

Resources:
School Nutrition Association Press Release:
http://www.schoolnutrition.org/Index.aspx?id=2748.
Carol MacDonald, “Nutritionists Want Level Playing Field for School Foods,” Education Daily, February 27, 2008.
Author: SAS