Milling & Baking News - September 15, 2015 - 44

Nutrition and Health X

U.S.D.A. offering grants to bolster
healthy school meal preparation
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Agriculture will award more
than $8 million in grants to help school
nutrition professionals better prepare
healthy meals for their students. Of
the $8 million, approximately $2.6 million will support implementing new
national professional standards for all
school nutrition employees who manage and operate the National School
Lunch and School Breakfast Programs,
and $5.6 million will help states expand
and enhance food service training programs and provide nutrition education
in school, child care and summer meal
settings, the U.S.D.A. said.
"For the past three years, kids
have eaten healthier breakfasts,
lunches and snacks at school thanks
to the bipartisan Healthy, HungerFree Kids Act, which made the first
meaningful improvements to the nutrition of foods and beverages served
in cafeterias and sold in vending machines in 30 years," said Secretary
of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. "Nearly
all schools are successfully meeting
the standards, and these grants are
part of our ongoing commitment
to give states and schools the additional resources they need. Parents,
teachers, principals and school nutrition professionals want the best
for their children. Together we can
make sure we're giving our kids the

healthy start in life they deserve."
The grants represent one of many
resources the U.S.D.A. has set out
to provide to help schools develop
healthier food options that meet

'Nearly all schools are successfully meeting
the standards, and these grants are part of
our ongoing commitment to give states and
schools the additional resources they need.'
- Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack

updated nutrition standards. The department also provides technical assistance, educational materials and
additional reimbursements. According to the U.S.D.A., more than 95%
of schools said they successfully are
meeting nutrition standards.
The announcement comes shortly
before Congress is due to vote on reauthorization of the Healthy Hunger
Free Kids Act of 2010, which expires at
the end of September.
In February, the U.S.D.A. announced national professional standards for school nutrition employees
that went into effect on July 1. With its
grant of $2.6 million to 19 state agencies, the U.S.D.A. hopes to develop
and enhance existing trainings within
each state that will allow school nutrition professionals to meet the new

Grain chain cooperating in effort
opposing user fees to fund F.S.M.A.
WASHINGTON - The American Bakers
Association, the Independent Bakers Association and the National Grain and Feed
Association were among dozens of groups
urging the Obama administration not to
seek user fees to fund implementation of
the Food Safety Modernization Act.
The Aug. 31 letter was sent to Health
and Human Services Secretary Sylvia
Burwell and Office of Management and
Budget Director Shaun Donovan. The 64
organizations said food safety programs
and inspections conducted by the Food
and Drug Administration should be financed through appropriated funds. The
groups acknowledged that additional
funding will be required to successfully
implement the law.
"We believe that while F.D.A. requires
additional funds in fiscal year 2017 in order
to support food inspection activities and
44 / September 15, 2015 XMilling & Baking News

standards. The Professional Standards
Training Grants promote training in
nutrition; operations; administration;
and communications and marketing.
In addition, 19 states received a
2015 Team Nutrition Training Grant
of up to $350,000 - $5.6 million in total - to support training that focuses
on encouraging healthy eating. Those

meet the upcoming implementation deadlines of the F.D.A. Food Safety Modernization Act (F.S.M.A.), the administration
should seek all such funding through the
congressional budget and appropriations
process rather than asking for authorization of new regulatory taxes that Congress
has repeatedly rejected," the groups said.
In the letter, the groups said user fees
would result in higher food prices for
consumers, placing a particularly burden
on low-income households.
"The creation of new food taxes or
regulatory fees would mean higher costs
for food makers and lead to higher retail
food prices for the most vulnerable consumers," the groups said. "As such, we
believe imposing new regulatory taxes
on food makers is the wrong option for
funding food safety programs."
The F.S.M.A. passed in 2010, granting

efforts could include:
* using Smarter Lunchrooms
strategies that use principles from
behavioral economics to encourage
healthy choices,
* meeting meal pattern requirements for school meals,
* delivering interactive nutrition
education activities, and
* providing schools and child care
providers with technical assistance to
create and maintain a healthier environment.
The Team Nutrition Training Grants
are awarded as part of the U.S.D.A.'s
Team Nutrition initiative, which provides resources, training and nutrition education lessons for schools and
child care providers. This year marks
the 20th anniversary of the Team Nutrition initiative. MBN

the F.D.A. new regulatory powers and requiring it to undertake several new rulemakings that affect the operations of the
food, animal feed and pet food industries.
The agency's budget request for every
fiscal year since 2012 has recommended
raising new revenue from food facility registration and inspection fees. The proposals
have been rejected by Congress each time.
Congress has yet to pass a budget for fiscal year 2016, which begins Oct. 1. The Senate Appropriations Committee approved
a bill that would provide the F.D.A. an additional $45 million in fiscal year 2016 to
implement the new F.S.M.A rules, while a
House bill would provide a $41.5 million
increase. The administration requested an
increase of $109 million, much of it through
facility registration fees.
Other groups that signed the letter included the Corn Refiners Association, the
Grocery Manufacturers Association, the
National Pasta Association, the North
American Meat Institute and the Snack
Foods Association. MBN
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Milling & Baking News - September 15, 2015

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