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SPECIAL EDITION
Nutrition Action Alert
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 Across California, teachers are finalizing their lesson plans and families are gearing up for the first day of school. But many low-income students are facing the added challenge of food insecurity as they strive to attain their full academic potential. According to the most recent California Healthy Interview Survey from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, 42% (over 1.7 million) of California's low-income households with children are food insecure, meaning they
lack reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food.
CFPA is working hard to ensure that all low-income students will have
access to the nutritious food they need to learn, grow, and achieve this academic year.
Join us!
In this Special Edition Nutrition Action Alert, you'll find news, data, and other resources to help make this
a
healthy, hunger-free school year
for California kids.
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Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack Encourages Congress to Reauthorize Strong Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act 
On September 1, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack delivered
calling on Congress to act quickly to reauthorize a strong Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. He emphasized the need for strong, science-based nutrition standards for school meals to ensure students have the energy to achieve academic success and improve overall health and well-being.
"Seventy-six percent of America's teachers report that children come to school hungry. [...] I know that I don't perform well when I'm hungry, and the reality is, neither do children. If we are going to expect our children to be at their best in terms of educational achievement, we have to make sure they're well-fed at schools."
The Secretary went on to urge lawmakers to protect and strengthen child nutrition programs as part of Child Nutrition Reauthorization.
"This is an important opportunity for the country to reinforce the good work that was done in 2010 [with the passage of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act], to expand on it, to solidify it, to institutionalize it, and to strengthen it. I'm here today to encourage Congress to get back to work as our youngsters are getting back to school, [and reauthorize strong nutrition programs]. Don't take a step back, let's take steps forward. That's what we did in 2010, and that's what we should do in 2015."
Read the full press release.
link
Read the USDA Fact Sheet.
PDF
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CDC Finds School Meals Healthier, with Room for Improvement
A new study released by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) looked at changes in school meals over the last 15 years and found significant nutritional gains.
"School meals are healthier now than ever before," said CDC Director Tom Frieden. "We've made real progress, but there is much more to do."
CDC looked at school-level practices intended to boost consumption of fruits, vegetables and whole grains and reduce consumption of sodium. In 2014, almost all schools offered whole grains each day for breakfast and lunch, and most offered at least two vegetables and two fruits daily for lunch. They found that 98% of schools had adopted at least one of these best practices, and nearly 75% had adopted at least four.
The practice that schools were least likely to have adopted was self-service salad bars- only 30% of schools offered them. CFPA strongly supports the use of self-serve salad bars as a proven strategy to increase fruit and vegetable intake while also improving the appeal of school lunch.
While these gains are substantial, CDC found that national, state, and local efforts are still needed. These include ensuring schools have appropriate kitchen equipment; providing training for school nutrition professionals on preparing healthy meals that are appealing to students; continuing industry efforts to reformulate products to reduce sodium content; and engaging stakeholders to increase awareness and support for healthy school meals.
Read the CDC Report.
link
Read CFPA's Salad Bars in Schools: Benefits & Feasibility. PDF
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2013-14 School Meal Analysis
Nearly 3 in 5 public school students in California are eligible to receive free or reduced-price school meals. Research shows that children who participate in the school meal programs tend to have healthier diets than their peers - and we all know that well-nourished students are better prepared to learn, grow, and achieve at their fullest potential. Unfortunately, far too many students across California are not served by the school meal programs. How many students in your community are missing out?
Learn more about school lunch and school breakfast participation on CFPA's School Meal Analysis page. link
Questions? Contact Tia Shimada at 510.433.1122 ext. 109
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Main Office
| 436 14th Street, Suite 1220 | Oakland, CA 94612 | 510.433.1122
Los Angeles
| 205 S. Broadway, Suite 402 | Los Angeles, CA 90012 | 213.482.8200
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