On Dec. 13, 2010, President Obama signed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, the bill that reauthorizes the Child Nutrition Act. The House of Representatives voted with bipartisan support to pass the bill on Dec. 2, following a unanimous Senate vote in the summer. As the act is reauthorized only once every five years, this bill marks a significant move to shape the future of school food.

“Simply put, this is good news for children’s health,” said Rochelle Davis, HSC founding executive director. “In a time when far too many children face both hunger and obesity, this bill presents an opportunity to set policy that will bring healthier food to the children who need it most. However, we are concerned that the limited increase in the reimbursement will not alleviate the financial pressure facing school food programs. We will continue working with hard-working and creative school food service leaders to support their efforts to bring the healthiest meals possible to students.”

The bill includes health-promoting school food policy, including:

• increasing the reimbursements that schools receive by six cents per meal;
• setting improved common-sense nutrition standards for school meals;
• bringing policies that help schools send consistent messages about healthy eating throughout the school -- including vending machines, school stores and more;
• simplifying the process that children who are eligible for free meals go through to receive those meals;
• piloting expansion of farm-to-school programs as well as organic foods.

This reauthorization has been a focus of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let's Move campaign to reverse the trend in childhood obesity and comes after nearly two years of advocacy for healthy school food. As the bill worked its way through Congress, districts across the nation began making changes in the direction of healthier school meals. This action at the federal policy level will bolster local efforts and provide a small increase in funding that can help make them sustainable.

“This is not a perfect bill,” said Davis. “We advocated for more funding for school food and funding from different sources. But ultimately, we believe this bill is an important step and will bring meaningful change for kids’ health.”

For analysis and history of the reauthorization -- and for updates on implementation -- please visit the Child Nutrition Act section of HSC’s blog.