June 28, 2004

 

In this issue:

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Action: Help Feed Hungry Kids in Your Community This Summer!
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Child Nutrition Reauthorization Update
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Amended AB2686 Passes Senate Education
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Uncle Sam Needs You: Help Rename the Food Stamp Program

 

Background: Improvements Made to Summer Food

When school is out, hunger doesn’t take a vacation. High obesity rates make summer an important time to ensure adequate nutrition for the three million children in California who are eligible for free or reduced-price meals during the school year.  The good news is nutrition resources are available: nearly two thousand sites across the state offer all children under 18 a free lunch! 

The summer lunch program is on the move.  Recent legislative improvements in Washington, DC automatically qualify summer lunch sponsors to offer snacks throughout the year. Recent policy clarifications in Sacramento encourage sponsors to invite more children and their families into program sites, expanding participation. Local action is needed to make these important changes a reality for Californians.

 

Action: Help Feed Hungry Kids in Your Community This Summer!

Here are 4 steps you can take to help make the most of California's Summer Lunch Program:

 

  • Read CFPA’s annual summer lunch report, which includes an assessment of 2003 trends. Among the report's highlights:

    • Review of statewide participation trends

    • Federal, state and local developments

    • Action steps for decision-makers

    • Marketing and Outreach Guide

    • Note: The county-specific data usually contained in this annual report is not yet available and therefore is not included. Once we have it, we will post it on our web site and let you know through this Alert.

       

  • Refer children and families to nearby summer lunch sites.

  • Learn more about California-specific improvements included in Child Nutrition Reauthorization.

  • Understand recent policy clarifications, as explained in this USDA letter.

For further information, contact matt@cfpa.net.

 

Updates

Child Nutrition Reauthorization Update. The headline of Representative George Miller’s press release said it best: “Representative Miller Applauds Passage of Bipartisan Child Nutrition Bill…But Regrets that Bill Doesn’t Do More to Address Child Obesity.” On Friday, June 25, the U.S. House of Representative joined the U.S. Senate in unanimously passing the child nutrition reauthorization bill.  With the President's signature expected later this week, this bill cements most program rules and funding for the next five years.

CFPA published a full analysis of the bill, noting a number of the missed opportunities for increased investments and improvements. The best news of the final bill is that it includes the "Year-Round California Child Nutrition Pilot Program." With a number of partners, CFPA worked in 2000 and 2001 to develop a simplified summer nutrition program for schools, which started as a small pilot in Alisal and Fresno and now serves as the national framework for summer nutrition at schools. The California-specific pilot passed by Congress uses that model of simplified program administration as the basis for community-wide nutrition by extending federal nutrition funds year-round.

What does this mean for California?

  • All California community organizations, such as Boys and Girls Clubs, park and recreation departments and cities who run the Summer Food Service Program [SFSP], will be eligible to receive reimbursements of $.6125 per day all year, under one federal food program - SFSP - for snacks served in the afterschool setting.  (Current law requires these agencies to apply through a separate, cumbersome process, Child and Adult Care Food Program, to receive snack reimbursements during the school year).

  • This year-round snack service will operate under summer rules, enabling virtually seamless nutrition, year-round for current sponsoring agencies. 

  • The legislation is effective July 1, 2004, so we should be able to notify all California non-school-based sponsors whose summer program ends in late August to plan for continuation of federal funding during the rest of the year, if they serve snacks.

There are several folks—particularly Denise Forte, legislative staffer in Representative George Miller's office—who made this happen, and we would be remiss to not acknowledge their leadership on this big step forward.  Many thanks to Denise and everyone else for all of your support.

 

Amended AB2686 Passes Senate Education. An amended version of AB2686 (Jackson) passed out of the Senate Education Committee with an 8-1 bipartisan vote on Thursday, June 24, and will be before the Senate Health & Human Services Committee on Wednesday, June 30. While we are disappointed that the bogey-man of reimbursable mandates forced us to trim back the bill’s provisions, we are pleased that the core concept—empowering parents so they can get involved in school nutrition—remains.

The new version of the bill calls for two simple steps:

·        Each year, school districts participating in the school lunch program must submit a form to the Department of Education. Under AB2686, the form would include 2 new check-box questions:

Ø      In the next school year, will your school district reduce the fat & saturated fat standards of NSLP entrées, as specified [in AB2686]?

Ø      In the next school year, will your school district provide parents with nutrition information about school lunches, including the fat and saturated fat content?

·        Then, CDE would post on its Web site a list of California school districts and if they answered “yes” or “no” to the two questions.

Since there would no longer be a mandate for school districts to curb excessively high-fat entrées or provide parents with nutrition information, we’ll need to rely even more on parent power to make these crucial steps happen. CFPA will do our part by providing an annual audit of which school districts have committed to take these two steps—and which ones have not. Then, we’ll work with local partners to help parents act on this information, such as helping them use the newly-provided nutrition info or helping them work with their school board to pass a resolution so the information is provided in the future.

See this new FAQ for more details about AB2686 or call Jessica at 415-777-4422 x129. We'll be in touch soon with actions to take!

 

Multi-Media Extras

Uncle Sam Needs Your Help with Renaming the Food Stamp Program.

Noting that states no longer use actual stamps to deliver benefits to recipients, USDA is looking for a new, accurate name for the Food Stamp Program. The ideas they are considering include “National Food Assistance Program” and “Food Support Program”—but CFPA thinks our readers must have better suggestions. Take our survey and give us your input. We’ll forward the results to USDA by the August 23 deadline. You can also submit your comments directly to John Knaus at USDA. To read the Federal Register announcement, click here.

 
 

“How Long Does It Take” Researchers Needed

 Care about families trying to sign up for Food Stamps? Like to use a stop watch? Then join CFPA’s research team to update “How Long Does It Take,” the report that provides real, on-the-ground information about families’ experiences in Food Stamp Offices around the state. Email george@cfpa.net to learn more.