USDA Official Visits Texas in Celebration of National School Breakfast Week
San Angelo, TX, March 10, 2011 – USDA's Food and Nutrition Service teamed with San Angelo Independent School District today to celebrate National School Breakfast Week (March 7-11) by emphasizing the administration's commitment to provide our nation's school children healthy, well-balanced meals to prepare for a productive school day. At the School Breakfast Week celebration held at Fannin Elementary School, USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services Janey Thornton spoke to students, school administrators and food service staff about providing healthy breakfasts to get children fueled and ready to start their day.
"Participation in the School Breakfast Program provides a key path to meet the nutritional needs of children," said Thornton. "Thanks to the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act signed into law by President Obama, we'll be able to enroll many more children in our school feeding programs and greatly enhance the quality of meals served in our nation's schools."
Every year, USDA partners with the School Nutrition Association and other organizations to raise awareness of the School Breakfast Program and highlight how critical it is to the health and well-being of 12 million children it serves in over 88,000 schools and residential child care institutions each school day. The program offers children of all economic backgrounds breakfasts that are consistent with the latest Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Children from families with incomes at or below 130 percent of the federal poverty level are eligible for free meals in the breakfast program. Those with higher incomes may be eligible for reduced priced meals.
USDA recently announced that it will be investing $5.5 million in grants with approximately $2.5 million set aside to provide non-competitive grants (up to $50,000) to each State Agency that commits to specific strategies to increase the number of HealthierUS School Challenge (HUSSC) applications submitted for approval. Up to $350,000 may be requested to include both competitive and non-competitive grants.
The HealthierUS School Challenge is a key component of First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! initiative to end childhood obesity within a generation. Schools participating in the challenge voluntarily adopt USDA standards for food they serve at their schools, agree to provide nutrition education and provide opportunities for physical activity.
Improving child nutrition is the focal point of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act signed by President Obama in December 2010. The legislation authorizes USDA'S child nutrition programs, including the National School Lunch, School Breakfast, Summer Food Service Program, and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children. The Act allows USDA, for the first time in over 30 years, the chance to make real reforms to the school lunch and breakfast programs by improving the critical nutrition and hunger safety net for millions of children, and help a new generation win the future by having healthier lives. The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act is the legislative centerpiece of First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! initiative.
USDA's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) oversees the administration of 15 nutrition assistance programs, including the school meals programs that touch the lives of one in four Americans over the course of a year. These programs work in concert to form a national safety net against hunger.