The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 became law this month.
This reauthorization of the federal school nutrition program
includes a number of elements that will help move the needle on
childhood obesity. The Act recognizes the importance of school
meals to the health and academic success of kids and gives
school nutrition programs new responsibilities and resources to
bring more fresh produce, whole grains and low-fat dairy
products into school cafeterias. More than 31 million school
kids participate in the National School Lunch Program and 11
million qualify for the School Breakfast Program. Many children
get ½ of their daily calories at schools, making this program a
great leverage point to improve nutrition for kids by placing
more rigorous nutrition standards on the foods that are served
in the program. We were actually able to get elements of our
childcare Empower Pack included in the new law. When the Request
For Information came out several months ago we turned in our
Empower program as a best pra