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October 01, 2010
Michelle Obama's Child Nutrition Bill Stalls In House
Child nutrition bill stalls in House
WASHINGTON
AP
First lady Michelle Obama's campaign for healthier school lunches has stalled in Congress after anti-hunger groups and more than 100 Democrats protested the use of food stamp dollars to pay for it.
Passage of the child nutrition bill, which would improve lunches in schools and expand feeding programs for low-income students, has been a priority for Democrats and hunger groups for years. But the groups and many members of the House switched sides when leaders proposed a vote on a Senate-passed version of the legislation that uses future funding for food stamp programs to pay for part of the $4.5 billion cost.
One hundred and six Democrats wrote House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in August calling the move egregious, saying it was not a vote they would take lightly.
Labor unions, anti-poverty groups and even New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg also urged the speaker to reconsider using the food stamp money.
"It's just plain wrong," said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., a longtime advocate for childhood nutrition programs. "The way you are going to pay for a child nutrition bill is by dipping into people's food stamps? Give me a break."
The first lady has lobbied aggressively for the legislation as part of her "Let's Move" campaign to combat childhood obesity.
A spokeswoman for Mrs. Obama said Wednesday that she had "made extensive outreach" to Pelosi and other members of House leadership over the past several weeks.
To no avail. Democrats declined to take up the bill before the November elections, citing many of their members' concerns about the food stamp dollars. Many Republicans opposed the bill as well, saying it was too expensive.
Supporters had hoped to pass the bill before Thursday, when many of the child nutrition programs in the bill are scheduled to expire. An extension of those programs was included in a stopgap bill that will keep the government operating for the next two months, and supporters will try again to pass the nutrition bill when Congress returns to Washington after the elections.
If passed, the new nutrition standards would not remove popular foods like hamburgers from schools completely, but would make them healthier, using leaner meat or whole wheat buns, for example. Vending machines could be stocked with less candy and fewer high-calorie drinks.
Creation of new standards, which public health advocates have sought for a decade, has unprecedented support from many of the nation's largest food and beverage companies. The two sides came together on the issue as public pressure to remove junk foods from schools increased.
Congressional passage of the bill would be only the first step. Decisions on what kinds of foods could be sold - and what ingredients may be limited - would be left up to the Agriculture Department.
Supporters said they were hopeful the bill could be passed after the elections. McGovern said he was working with the White House to find a new way to pay for it.
Jim Weill, president of the Food Research and Action Center, said he doesn't buy the argument that the House should use the food stamp money for child nutrition because it will just be used for something else. Lawmakers have been eyeing the dollars for other priorities if it isn't used for the bill.
"If people fight back, it's not inevitable," Weill said.
Wild Thing's comment.........
Another thing 'they' fail to mention here is that we already have bills providing for the same things, this is just more piggy backing, wasting money and time.
We don’t need the government spending our tax money and setting up programs telling us what and what not to eat. No more of this crap.
Each time the government takes over on anything it is more control. It might start with something that seems innocent, but it is NOT. It is control and it goes on from there.
Honestly if they or let's say America hating Michelle Obama wants people at any age to have better eating habits then try educating people. Make nutrition part of what is taught in schools instead of dress like a Muslim day and all the other PC baloney they are doing now.
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at October 1, 2010 03:49 AM
Comments
Has anybody noticed that the more government involves itself in schools, the worse our schools have become? We spend more on education but our students score lower than many third world nations. Yet, a housewife with basically no money can home school her children and they'll continually score two to three grade levels higher than their contemporaries in the government run schools.
Posted by: BobF at October 1, 2010 09:44 AM
Bob, that is proven over and over. It is interesting to see how many spelling bee and geography bee contestants are home schooled or attend parochial/private/charter schools.
Posted by: TomR,armed in Texas at October 1, 2010 10:22 AM
Bob that is such a good point, thank you. You are so right, it really has been the bottom line of how bad education has become.
Posted by: Wild Thing at October 2, 2010 03:30 AM
