School Meals

1. What we’re lobbying for. America is currently facing the issue of childhood obesity, yet school lunches don’t delver nutritional food to students worldwide. Instead of offering healthy quality meals school lunches serve food that are high-fat meat products such as pepperoni pizza, hot dogs, meatloaf, and cheeseburgers. Many school meals contain more than half a day’s worth of sodium and saturated fat. Studies show 39 percent of the children who eat school-provided lunches are overweight, compared with 24 percent of those who bring lunches from home. Experts at the Institute of Medicine and other organizations have recommended that Americans eat more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and less saturated fat and sodium. However, the Improving Nutrition for America's Children Act, passed July 16th 2010, will change high fat and sodium meals into healthy ones. Not only will the act improve the quality of meals students eat but it will also put a stop to childhood hunger, and establish nutrition standards for all school meals.  http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20100503_Lousy_school_lunches_fuel_childhood_obesity.html

3. Main Supporters of Lobbying Idea.George Miller Chair of the House Education and Labor Committee unveiled his Child Nutrition bill on Thursday June 10th 2010. The bill proposes that about $8 billion in additional funding over 10 years for child nutrition programs, including school breakfast and lunch. The bill sets strict nutrition standards on items in vending machines and school lunches. It also requires low-fat milk to be sold and an additional half a cent per lunch to fund nutrition which might include redesigns for cafeterias to encourage students to make healthier food choices. It also provides start-up grants for school breakfast programs and year-round meal service in some states.http://voices.washingtonpost.com/all-we-can-eat/food-politics/congressman-proposes-8-b.html

Here is a YouTube video link of George Miller announcing his Child Nutrition bill: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=EdLaborDemocrats

Michelle Obama is another supporter of the bill.  Not only has she initiated the Let’s Move Campaign, which is a nationwide initiative for kids to make healthier choices, improve food quality in schools, increase access to healthy foods, mark food at affordable prices and encourage physical activity for kids, but she has recently proposed a $1-billion annual increase for Child Nutrition Act programs. The act covers the payment of school district meals, summer and after-school food programs, food served at various day-care facilities for children and adults, and last but not least the Special Supplemental Nutrition program for Women, Infants and Children, which provided food to more than 8 million people in 2007. http://articles.latimes.com/2009/aug/26/nation/na-child-nutrition26http://www.letsmove.gov/learnthefacts.php

Earlier this year, the first lady visited Bancroft Elementary School to talk to the students who helped her plant the White House vegetable garden, and stressed the importance of healthy eating habits. Michelle Obama also plans to eliminate processed foods and teach children how food effects their body. In fact, Mrs. Obama said, Malia and Sasha “ate up that information and they started schooling me and lecturing me about what I should be eating, and what a carrot does, and what broccoli does.” Mrs. Obama sees the potential that school lunches can have on shaping a child’s eating habit.  She changes the school districts non-nutritional lunches by introducing foods kids don’t eat at home. She believes once students try and accept new, nutritious foods, maybe they’ll ask their parents to serve those foods at home. “Maybe they’ll spur some changes in the way their whole family eats.” http://www.schoolfoodpolicy.com/2009/05/30/michelle-obama-school-lunch-should-be-a-lesson/

Just as the Improving Nutrition for America's Children Act, Michelle Obama is also working with food-industries to reduce the amount of sugar, fat, sodium, and salt in school lunches.  However,  increasing the number of fruits and vegetables in school lunches is a pricey buy.  Fruits and vegetables have increased 50 percent faster than other food of the last 20 years.  Nutrition experts had hoped the presidents budget would add a dollar a day to the school lunches in order to pay for higher-quality foods. Unfortunately, the programs only added 20 cents more per lunch. http://www.newsweek.com/blogs/the-human-condition/2010/02/10/michelle-obama-s-plan-for-healthy-school-lunches-still-faces-funding-hurdles.htmlhttp://www.mass.gov/?pageID=gov3pressrelease&L=1&L0=Home&sid=Agov3&b=pressrelease&f=100730_School_Nutrition_Signing&csid=Agov3

6. Other Background Information

It has recently been noted that 20 percent of the food in school cafeterias comes from the USDA commodities program, which is a food distributor program. Although the USDA commodities provide food to schools, 75 percent of the food on their list are beef and chicken. “Many districts divert fresh commodities to processors, said Margo Wootan, who is the director of nutrition policy at the center for Science in Public Interest. (http://www.time.com/time/2004/obesity/speakers/wootan.html) "Too many schools turn chicken into nuggets, or pork into pizza toppings," she said.“In Philadelphia schools, much of the food comes from a Brooklyn, N.Y., distributor, which prepares, packages, and ships frozen meals to schools to be warmed,” says food services chief Wayne Grasela. According to Sandy Sherman, director of nutrition education at the nonprofit Food Trust in Philadelphia, two-thirds of city schools have no kitchens.http://tdn.com/lifestyles/article_ce17affa-3617-11df-892e-001cc4c03286.html

Although many schools have a poor meal system there are some striving for better. Cities around the nation have taken the initiative to refurbish what and how children eat. New York City for example, devised a farm school program with the help of state legislation and the department of agriculture and education. The program offers raw, fresh, local, and healthy menu items. http://youngphillypolitics.com/time_rethink_school_lunch_programJust like New York City schools are initiating healthier school meals so is Philadelphia. West Philadelphia school has a full kitchen where many meals are prepared practically from scratch. The school gets $5,000 a year in extra funding from the district to buy fresh produce and even has its own vegetable garden.     http://tdn.com/lifestyles/article_ce17affa-3617-11df-892e-001cc4c03286.html                                   

    Health and Medical Associations

While some schools endeavor to have healthier meals, The American Public Health Association and the American Medical Association have called for vegetarian meals to be offered in schools to lower the percentage of childhood obesity and other health discrepencies. Both associations agree that familiarizing children with healthy, plant-based foods at an early age shapes them to have healthy eating habits for life, therefore decreasing the risk of Type 2 diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and other illnesses.  Experts of medicine say, “A child who chooses a veggie burger instead of a hamburger just two days a week reduces his or her saturated fat intake by 37 percent. On the other hand, one who eats a meal of chicken nuggets has to run three miles just to burn off the calories it contains.” http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20100503_Lousy_school_lunches_fuel_childhood_obesity.html

Petition letter: Below is a link to read and sign a petition for healthy lunches. It was started by the Healthy School Lunches. http://www.change.org/healthy_school_lunches/petitions/view/tell_congress_to_provide_vegetarian_and_vegan_meal_options_in_public_schools

Problems with Bill:

Supporters of the food reform believe much more money will be required to overhaul unhealthy school meals. In the New York Times, Alice Waters, a famous American chef, stated, “schools need $5 per lunch per student, almost twice the $2.68 they receive from the federal government for students that qualify for a free lunch.” The problem that lies ahead is whether the House can find the money to pay for the $10 billion dollar bill. Unlike the Senate, which proposes enough cuts in other programs to pay for the increase, the House Education and Labor Committee, has found only $1 billion so far. To pass its version, it will need to persuade other committees, such as the House Agriculture Committee, to help fund its proposal. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/all-we-can-eat/food-politics/congressman-proposes-8-b.html

The following is a link to a discussion, talking about how the Nutrition Bill might not be as affective one would think. Money for the nutrition bill should mean students eating healthier foods, yet the bill is in competition with fast food places right across the street.http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/09/15/pm-can-a-school-lunch-overhaul-beat-junk-food/

Representative and their District

A Pennsylvania representative that is in support of healthy school lunches is democratic member of the House of Representaives, Chakkah Fattah. Fattah, represents Pennsylvania’s 2nd congressional district, which includes North Philadelphia, West Philadelphia, Montgomery County,  and parts of Northeast Philadelphia and Cheltenham Township. Pennsylvania’s 2nd congressional district has a large democratic party, in fact it’s so large that it is the fifth most democratic congressional district out of 435 others in the nation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania%27s_2nd_congressional_district

Biography

Chaka Fattah was born in Philadelphia on November 21, 1956.  It was during his youth that his mother and father decided to start a home for homeless boys and girls. By the tender of age 14, Chaka went to the bank and got them to provide money for funding the home for homeless boys and girls.  Although already having an influential impact, it wasn’t until his junior year that Fattah realized his passion for politics.  After receiving a masters degree in government administration in 1986, Fattah became the youngest man to be elected to the Pennsylvania Legislature as a Democrat. http://pabook.libraries.psu.edu/palitmap/bios/Fattah__Chaka.html However, before becoming a member of congress, the now positioned congressman, worked as a serving member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and the Pennsylvania Senate.  Before being a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representative and representing Pennsyvania’s 2nd congressional district, Fattah was the special assistant to the Office of Housing and Community Development in Philadelphia from the year 1980-1982. His other careers included being state representative of Pennsylvania General Assembly from 1982 to 1988 and state senator from 1988 to 1994. http://www.answers.com/topic/chaka-fattah. It wasn’t until 1995, when Fattah represented Pennsyvania’s 2nd congressional district.  Being a democrat Fattah endorsed Obamam for president in 2008 and in 2007 ran for mayor of Philadelphia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaka_Fattah.  During his 12 years of a state lawmaker, six being a state representative and six being a state senator, Fattah began focusing on issues such as quality schools and equal opportunities for inner-city students. In fact, each year Fattah inches his way to making bigger changes of improvements. http://pabook.libraries.psu.edu/palitmap/bios/Fattah__Chaka.html

Policy and Community Interest (How has my legislator voted on my issue in the past?)

One example of how Fattah is developing plans of action to improve Philadelphia is that he  is currently launching a program called Growing Together that provides nutritious meals for Philadelphia schools in poor urban areas.  Fattah believes that, “It is important for young people to be exposed to quality food,” and in order to do so congress must advocate for nutrition among schools. Fattah does so by successfully leading the Philadelphia Congressional Delegation to temporarily stop termination of the city’s highly successful school lunch pilot program. Fattah also works to include free lunches for student’s of low-income families into Improving Nutrition for America’s Children Act.  The Growing Together program aims to coordinate agriculture and healthy cooking programs in West Philadelphia.  If passed the program will engage 120 students in after-school and summer activities that will encourage healthy eating habits of students and improve the health status among communities. In order to improve community health, Growing Together supports school gardens that heightens community food and donations of fresh produce to the City Harvest Program. Growing Together will support healthy cooking workshop series led by teen peer food educators at community and school-based settings across West Philadelphia.http://politicalnews.me/?id=1767&keys=Congressman-Chaka-Fattah-LowIncome

Along with his interest in school lunches, congressman Fattah's  also has focus in policy interests such as education, community and economic development and last but not least legislative policy. http://fattah.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=59&sectiontree=6,43,59

Fattah's top legislative priority is H.R 2130 The Comprehensive Transform America Transaction Fee Act . The plan calls for the elimination of federal taxes and then replaces the taxes with a fee on transactions. This allows for the elimination of federal taxes which therefore stimulates the economy and increase the number of jobs by allowing businesses to expand their work offices and hire more employees.http://fattah.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=19&sectiontree=2,19

Although Fattah’s main pivot is legislation policy, he is also in support of health and education by voting yes on a bill that aspired for an additional 10. 2 billion dollars for federal education and health and human services. Fattah also voted yes on a bill that wanted $84 million grants for black and Hispanic colleges and voted yes for a bill that strived for 40 billion grants for green public schools. http://www.ontheissues.org/PA/Chaka_Fattah_Education.htmAlong with voting yes on various bills that support improvement of education systems, Fattah continues to emphasize his education policy by endeavoring to improve poor communities that suffer from under-qualified teachers, low- quality facilities and inadequate assets. http://fattah.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=92&sectiontree=4,73,80,92Video link focusing on Fattah’s educational value:http://chakafattah.com/

Here is a link of additional legislative and policy achievements. http://fattah.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=18&sectiontree=2,18

What We Have In Common

We both went to Commuity College of Philadelphia. I had psychology classes there and he attended college there. http://vote-pa.org/Intro.aspx?Id=PAFattahChakaLike me, Fattah was also in support of Barack Obama’s presidential election.Both of us are pro-choice (for abortion) and both of us want to reduce/stop crime, especially anti- gay hate crimes. http://www.ontheissues.org/PA/Chaka_Fattah.htmVideo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wm7-fx1o8jA&feature=youtube_gdata_player

1. What is the status of your issue at the legislature? Is this a "good" year?How many elected officials have indicated support for your issue? Is there public support behind it, with good media attention? Who are your opponents, and how much power do they have? Has a policy been written to address your issue, or do you need to work with an elected official to write one?

Initiated by George Miller, The Improving Child’s Nutrition Act ameliorates the quality of meals students eat, stops childhood hunger, and establishes nutrition standards for all school meals. The act was passed earlier this year on July 16th. The Child Nutrition Act has much support and has inspired others to establish various acts and programs that require nutritious meals and exercise to reverse childhood obesity.  Supporters such as Michelle Obama initiated the Let’s Move Campaign, which increases access to healthy foods, marks food at affordable prices and encourages physical activity for kids. Not only has Michelle Obama commenced campaigns in support of healthy food, but she has also brought positive media attention to the issue by lecturing and educating schools on healthy eating habits. Schools have also been in support of the Act. Various cities around the nation have taken the initiative to refurbish what and how children eat. New York City for example, devised a farm school program that offers raw, fresh, and healthy menu items.  Although the bill has much support there are many opponents. Representative Jim McGovern and many other democrats are against a bill that has a plan to cut funds for food stamps to give more funding to school lunches. The senate already cut food stamp funds by 13.6%, $26 billion to aid education and medicaid costs in states. Other opponents include Labor unions and anti-poverty groups who are also against cutting food stamp funds.  Many opposing democrats have the power to veto the bill, just as they did in August 2009 when 100  House Democrats called on Speaker Nancy Pelosi, not to bring the Senate bill to the floor. Actions such as this prevent bills from getting passed and put a halt to improving child nutrition.  Although the bill brings up much concern on the subject of food stamps supporting House leaders and President Barack Obama worked on dealing with those concerns, eventually leading to the legislation of the Improving Child Nutrition Act. However other act and bills that branch of from the Child Nutrition Act might not be as lucky, such as the School Meal Enhancement Act proposed by Joe Sestak. The act strives for nutritious schools meals, however democrats argue yet again that the act cuts to much into food stamps.  In order to get the act passed good media and representation on the act must be presented. Just as Barack Obama and other House leaders defended and supported the Improving Child’s Nutrition Act so must others in support of Joe Sestak’s act for the state of Pennsylvania.  Another solution is to adjust the cuts in food stamps in order to please the main opposers, democrats. Support the Healthy School Meal Act at http://www.healthyschoollunches.org/wyntergrace/

Links:http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20100503_Lousy_school_lunches_fuel_childhood_obesity.htmlhttp://articles.latimes.com/2009/aug/26/nation/na-child-nutrition26http://www.letsmove.gov/learnthefacts.phphttp://www.takepart.com/news/2010/09/30/healthy-school-lunch-bill-stalled-in-congresshttp://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hdFHgkFxcfncSOerE5uz7Bk8fqCgD9II0ML80?docId=D9II0ML80http://thehill.com/homenews/house/114271-dems-consider-more-food-stamp-cuts-to-fund-child-nutrition-billhttp://voices.washingtonpost.com/all-we-can-eat/food-politics/congressman-proposes-8-b.htmlhttp://www.congress.org/news/2010/11/12/advocates_push_child_nutrition_billhttp://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-2690

5. What is the time frame?

So far the School Meal Enhancement Act has been introduced,  referred to committee, reported by committee, and has been presented to the House of Representatives who earlier on proposed voting on a Senate-passed version of the child nutrition bill. However, 106 House Democrats addressed Speaker Nancy Pelosi  and said they were no longer in support of the Senate version. Instead they called for their own House bill, which does not contain the food stamp cuts. Further debate and discussion on the bill will not take place until winter 2010. Links:http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-2690http://www.takepart.com/news/2010/09/30/healthy-school-lunch-bill-stalled-in-congress

6. When are key dates - meetings, committee hearings, deadlines, etc.Bill was introduced and Refereed to House of Commitee on Education and Labor - June 3rd 2009House of Commitee on Education and Labor voted for Bill. Passed on a vote of 32-13 - July 15 2010http://www.votetocracy.com/house_bills/hr2690-school-meal-enhancement-act-of-2009-18816.html

Links:http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-2690http://sestak.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1102:congressman-sestaks-legislation-to-improve-school-lunch-access-and-safety-passes-committee-&catid=13:2010-press-releases