FRAC: FRAC Statement on Vilsack/Obama Admin CNR Priorities

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FRAC Statement:
USDA Secretary Outlines Obama Administration’s Access and Nutrition Priorities for Child Nutrition Reauthorization

Today, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack outlined the Obama Administration’s priorities for Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization. They include improving access by children to nutrition programs, improvements in quality, and enhanced performance.

In his remarks, Secretary Vilsack pointed out that far too few children have access to the healthy meals they need in schools and out-of-school programs, and that Child Nutrition Reauthorization provides an opportunity to reduce these barriers.

FRAC agrees with Secretary Vilsack that both expanding children’s access to the child nutrition programs and improving quality are priorities. As to access, we must look at innovative ways to boost participation in the school meals programs, in child care settings, and in afterschool and summer programs. Direct certification is one way of connecting to school meals more low-income children who are already enrolled in other programs. Other essential approaches that reduce barriers include: improving the area eligibility test to allow more afterschool, summer, and child care programs to offer healthy snacks and meals; expanding the Afterschool Meal Program to all 50 states; innovative grant programs to support low-income schools that want to offer breakfast in the classroom to all children for free; and allowing child care providers to serve a third meal when children are in care for long hours. We must do all we can to connect children to healthy food.

President Obama has made it a goal to end childhood hunger by 2015 – a goal echoed by Secretary Vilsack today – and Child Nutrition Reauthorization will play an important part in providing the groundwork for achieving that goal. The Secretary’s remarks move the nation further in that direction, and FRAC urges the Administration and Congress to continue to make access a top priority in reauthorization.

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The Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) is the leading national nonprofit organization working to improve public policies and public-private partnerships to eradicate hunger and undernutrition in the United States.