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Digital News Report – President Obama has officially signed the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act today, which will help to improve the nutritional value served at kids’ school lunches. First Lady, Michelle Obama has been committing her efforts to improve children nutrition and active lifestyles and according to the official Whitehouse.gov website, Michelle Obama found this new law signed today as “meaningful” to her.
The school lunch menu will improve the amount of vegetables served, lower the fat content in the milk served, and limit the amount of starchy vegetables such as potatoes or corn. The protein will also reduce slightly, but will lower the fat content of the meal.
The new law will also give the USDA the ability to implement these new nutritional standards that school districts nationwide will have to adhere to that is if they want the extra funding. The schools will need to accommodate any food sold at the school location during the school day. This includes vending machines and al-a-carte food items. The schools will earn extra funding by meeting the USDA standards.
There is provisions for schools and communities to help use local farms and school gardens to help provide the school food. There will be drinking water fountains that will be made available to the students in the cafeteria area. The federal government will outline standards for school wellness policies but will allow individual districts to create their own.
In addition, this new law will help the Child and Adult Care Food Program as well. There also will be expanded funding for the WIC program for helping mothers with breastfeeding support.
More children will be eligible for either free or reduced school lunch programs. The schools will link to the Medicaid data directly to find more families that qualify for the program.
The school districts will be required to be audited very three years to ensure that they are compliant with the program. The schools also will be needing to inform parents on the nutritional value of the meals that they provide. The schools also will receive training and technical help to get them on the right track.
It will take time for all the changes to take place. The government says that over time you will start to notice the changes in the child nutrition of school lunches.
A sample menu of the before and after was given at http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/cnr_chart.pdf
By Victoria Brown