Grow & Thrive 03/16/2015 Monday
ICYMI, here's what happened last week at USDA:
"With doctors, parents, teachers and schools all working together, we can make sure our kids get the healthy start in life they deserve."
- Secretary Tom Vilsack
Last week, as a continuing celebration of National Nutrition Month, USDA announced the nationwide expansion of the Team Up for School Nutrition Success Initiative. The initiative helps schools successfully serve healthier meals, including additional funding for school food services, trainings and technical support, as well as flexibility in the new standards where appropriate.
In case you missed it last week, check out how we’ve been celebrating National Nutrition Month at USDA.
The Week in Pictures
National Nutrition Month: Raising a Healthier Generation through Diet, Education
We all want our children to succeed. It’s an important value and one the entire country can rally around. This March we’re redoubling our efforts to that commitment by celebrating National Nutrition Month and the importance of raising a healthier generation of kids. It’s our collective responsibility to ensure the next generation has access to healthier meals. USDA and the Obama administration support a nutritious diet by making the healthy choice the easy choice in our schools.
Investing in Rural Kids Is an Investment in Our Future
Since President Obama convened the White House Rural Council four years ago, we have made tremendous progress in creating new opportunities for rural businesses and communities to thrive and grow. As these opportunities expand, we now need to ensure that they are available to everyone. To that end, the White House Rural Council convened last week to explore how the Administration can better coordinate and target efforts so that rural families living in poverty have the best chance to climb into the middle class.
Hunger In Our Schools: Breakfast Is A Crucial “School Supply” For Kids In Need
Good nutrition is just as important to a child’s future as a quality education. We can’t expect kids to learn, excel and achieve if they aren’t properly nourished from day one. Share Our Strength’s new report, Hunger in Our Schools, illustrates how the healthier school breakfasts and lunches are working to address the twin crises of childhood hunger and obesity, particularly for low-income children. Healthy meals set up our kids for success, and school meals are a critical and effective part of that.
Another Study Shows Kids Eating More Healthy Food at School, Throwing Less Food Away
A new study published in Childhood Obesity has again confirmed that students are consuming healthier food at school as a result of the updated meal standards. The study further demonstrates that, contrary to anecdotal reports, the new standards are not contributing to an increase in plate waste. The study was conducted by researchers from the Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity at the University of Connecticut, the University of California Berkeley, and Yale University.
Summer Meals: Their Success Depends on All of Us
Every day, millions of students are able to enjoy a nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunch thanks to the National School Lunch Program. Everyday they’re in school, that is. But what happens to these children when school lets out during the summer? That’s when vital programs offered by USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service come into play.
USDA TV
Feeding Kids Well (New York Times)
Eating patterns are set when we’re young, and 31 million kids eat federally assisted school lunches. Thus the school lunch program is more than just an opportunity to feed hungry kids. It’s an opportunity to shape how kids — and grown-ups — will eat in the future. Teaching children bad eating habits means creating yet another generation of Americans who will have to break those habits; and, given what we now know about the effect of those habits on our health, that’s nothing short of criminal.
Richmond among big winners in latest USDA grant program (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
Students at some Richmond schools and in seven localities in the southwestern part of the state will have expanded, year-round access to food as part of a new $8.8 million federal grant Virginia has been awarded. The children will receive a third meal before leaving school every day, and they will also participate in an off-hours program aimed at making sure they get healthy food when they’re not in school.
Editorial: The Des Moines Register Edit Staff (The Des Moines Register)
A rose to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack for countering recent GOP efforts to cut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly food stamps) and roll back regulations on the nutritional content of school meals. The former Iowa governor is rolling out a $27 million grant program aimed at reducing childhood hunger and improving nutrition in some of the poorest areas of the nation: Kentucky, Virginia, Nevada and the Chickasaw and Navajo tribal nations. “Too many children in America live in households that don’t always know where their next meal is coming from,” Vilsack says. “At USDA, we’re deeply committed to ensuring that all Americans, especially children, have access to a healthy diet — whether at home or at school.”
Agriculture Department Expands School Food Training, Mentoring Program (Education Week)
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will expand a school nutrition training and mentoring pilot it launched this year into a nationwide program, the agency announced Monday. The Team Up for School Nutrition Success Initiative provides "tailored technical assistance" and peer-to-peer mentoring to schools as they continue to implement heightened nutrition standards that were created as part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. With assistance from the National Food Service Management Institute at the University of Mississippi, the USDA began piloting the program in eight southeastern states starting in November 2014.
Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act changes what school kids choose to eat at cafeterias (Petoskey News)
Students are choosing fruits in the cafeteria line more now than in 2012, when nutrition changes for school lunches were implemented, according to a study from Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at the University of Connecticut, The New York Times reported. "This research adds to evidence that the updated nutrition standards for the National School Lunch Program can succeed in helping students eat healthier," said Marlene B. Schwartz, the study's lead author and the director of the Rudd Center. According to the study, the percentage of children choosing fruits in the cafeteria rose from 54 percent to 66 percent. In addition, children were wasting less food, eating 84 percent of their entrees instead of only 74 percent in 2012, reported Time. Time's Eliana Dockterman wrote that researchers began following middle school students in an urban district of Connecticut for two years, beginning with the implementation of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act in the spring of 2012.
New study sheds light on effects of Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (Deseret News)
Students are choosing fruits in the cafeteria line more now than in 2012, when nutrition changes for school lunches were implemented, according to a study from Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at the University of Connecticut, The New York Times reported. “This research adds to evidence that the updated nutrition standards for the National School Lunch Program can succeed in helping students eat healthier,” said Marlene B. Schwartz, the study’s lead author and the director of the Rudd Center. According to the study, the percentage of children choosing fruits in the cafeteria rose from 54 percent to 66 percent. In addition, children were wasting less food, eating 84 percent of their entrees instead of only 74 percent in 2012, reported Time.
National School Breakfast Week celebrated at HCHS +video (Suwannee Democrat)
On Friday, March 6, middle school students at Hamilton County High school had a special treat as they welcomed representatives from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) and the Florida Dairy Council, who were on campus to celebrate National School Breakfast Week. The theme for this year’s event was “Make the Grade with School Breakfast”. National School Breakfast Week is a weeklong celebration of the program and schools are encouraged to decorate, hold events and offer special menus to bring attention to the program and increase participation.
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13.5M kids eat school breakfast every day. RT if you support kids getting the healthy food they need to #growstrong.pic.twitter.com/YyJI77eTzU
— Dept. of Agriculture (@USDA) March 12, 2015
Sound Nutrition: What every child needs to #growstrong http://t.co/j4VPpeih9N pic.twitter.com/p1IGe6UhTU
— Dept. of Agriculture (@USDA) March 11, 2015
Gov, @FirstLadyVA & @USDA Sec Vilsack announce $8.8 mil grant to fight childhood hunger in SWVA & Richmond schools.pic.twitter.com/7hAUaERIg6
— Terry McAuliffe (@GovernorVA) March 9, 2015
Honored to welcome @USDA Sec Vilsack to Woodville Elem in Richmond to highlight the importance of child nutrition!pic.twitter.com/q9ERiU0I4M
— Rep. Bobby Scott (@repbobbyscott) March 9, 2015
Healthy Kids Need Healthy Food: USDA nutrition programs help children, families grow & thrive http://t.co/6Nddjve8y5pic.twitter.com/YO6eofxo6c
— Dept. of Agriculture (@USDA) March 9, 2015
Celebrate National Nutrition Month at home! http://t.co/1HqzGZAvSE #growstrong pic.twitter.com/0Q9Yv7d845
— Dept. of Agriculture (@USDA) March 13, 2015
A Student’s View: Healthier school, brighter future http://t.co/13xQjZEddE #healthiernextgen
— Dept. of Agriculture (@USDA) March 13, 2015
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