Last Updated: July 2, 2010 111th Congress
 

BILL

A bill to amend the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to require regular updating of the supplemental foods provided under the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children, S. 3127

The bill amends the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to require the Secretary of Agriculture to arrange for the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences to review, at least once every 10 years, the most recent nutrition science and make recommendations for changes in the supplemental foods available under the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children (WIC).

A bill to amend the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to allow States to certify children for participation in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children for one year, S. 3129

The bill would allow children to participate in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) for a period one year.    

A bill to amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act and the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to increase the number of children eligible for free school meals, S. 1737/ H.R.3705

The bill would amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act and the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to expand eligibility for free meals under the school lunch and breakfast programs to children whose family income falls at or below 185% of the federal poverty guidelines.

A bill to amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to improve the health and well-being of school children , S. 3144

The bill includes the same provisions as S. 3123, but additionally directs the Secretary of Agriculture to: promote the use of salad or fruit and vegetable bars in schools participating in the school lunch program; provide training and technical assistance to states and schools on the best manner for doing so; and provide grants to states for a one-time payment to schools for the cost of setting up and operating salad or fruit and vegetable bars..

A bill to prohibit schools from serving trans fats, S. 1500

The bill would amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to prohibit schools that participate in the Federal school meal programs from serving foods that contain trans fats derived from partially hydrogenated oils. Foods that contain trans-fats could be phased out over a 5-year period; the Secretary would prepare guidance to assist schools and service institutions in transitioning to healthy oils.

Access to Nutritious Meals for Young Children Act of 2009, S. 2749/ H.R. 4402

The bill would amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to increase reimbursement rates for free, reduced price, and paid meals and snacks served under the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) at nonresidential child care centers and family or group day care homes. It would also increase provider reimbursement from two meals and a snack to three meals and a snack. Further, the bill lowers the percentage of children or school children in an area that must be eligible for free or reduced price meals to make family or group day care homes eligible for higher CACFP reimbursement rates as tier I homes; increases the maximum monthly administrative payment per home provided to sponsors of family or group day care homes; and directs the Secretary of Agriculture to improve the ability of the CACFP to reach low-income families by streamlining program and paperwork requirements.   

After School Meals Act of 2009, S. 990/ H.R. 3321

The bill would amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to expand access to healthy afterschool meals for elementary and secondary children in working families. Meals would be served for free, and one year grants would be provided to states that elect to participate.    

America’s Right-to-Eat Rescue Act of 2009, H.R. 501

The bill requires that all States and the District of Columbia use the poverty line currently determined for Alaska during a 6-month period for the purpose of carrying out the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 and the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act.   

Anti-Hunger Empowerment Act of 2009, H.R. 176

The legislation would provide greater access to SNAP by minimizing administrative requirements; authorize grants to community-based nonprofits feeding and anti-hunger groups; and implement a ‘Beyond the Soup Kitchen Pilot Program’ for disadvantaged populations; among the goals of pilot and feeding programs is the reduction of obesity in target populations by providing nutritious food.   
 

Balancing Act of 2009, H.R. 3047

The bill would impact schools threefold by: allowing all schools to serve breakfast free of charge to all students and providing start-up assistance for schools to begin serving breakfast; expanding the existing Afterschool Meal Program from ten states to all through CACFP; and allowing schools to serve free lunch to students at or below 185 percent of the federal poverty line which would eliminate the reduced price category for lunch.

Child Nutrition Enhancement Act of 2010, S. 3446

The bill would amend the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 by creating a wellness and nutrition network that would: promote the nutritional health of school children through technical assistance and training; decrease the prevalence of obesity, chronic disease and food insecurity; and coordinate and collaborate at the Federal, State and local levels to leverage and maximize resources, and ensure the effective and coordinated delivery of child nutrition programs. The total amount of funds made available for a fiscal year shall be obtained by multiplying 1 cent by the number of meals reimbursed during the preceding fiscal year under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act at participating schools and institutions.

Child Nutrition Promotion and School Lunch Protection Act of 2009, S. 934/H.R. 1324

Broadly, the legislation moves to update the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 standards for foods and beverages sold outside of school meals; the Secretary of Agriculture must consider the correlation between certain ingredients in foods and the proliferation of overweight and obese children; exempts for fundraisers if they are infrequent; nutrition standards and requirements should be updated as soon as possible anytime the Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services update the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.    

Amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to: (1) promote the use of salad or fruit and vegetable bars in schools participating in the school lunch program; (2) provide training and technical assistance to states and schools on how to do so; and (3) provide grants to states for a one-time payment to schools for the cost of setting up and operating salad or fruit and vegetable bars. It also authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to use funds under the Act's fresh fruit and vegetable program to provide technical assistance and national and regional training conferences that emphasize best practices, and  to carry out farm-to-school programs that improve the access of school lunch and breakfast program participants to local foods.

The bill would amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to award funding competitively to states, through grants or contracts, to carry out comprehensive and innovative demonstration projects that promote the reduction or elimination of childhood hunger by 2015. It favors projects with a 25 percent non-federal match in cash or in-kind contributions and limits project funding to five years and states to no more than one funded project. Lastly, the bill makes the amount of federal funding provided for a project each year contingent on its progress toward performance goals.

The bill would allow community-based and local government afterschool providers in all states to provide nutritious meals and snacks year round through the Summer Food Service Program. It complements the Afterschool Meals Act by streamlining out-of school time nutrition programs for nonprofit and local government sponsors.

The bill would amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act by creating a year-round meal option that would offer reimbursement to eligible entities that serve 1 meal and 1 snack per child during after school house, weekends and school holidays during the regular school calendar.

The bill amends the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to implement programs in support of breastfeeding in the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children (WIC).

The bill would amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to provide competitive matching grants to schools, nonprofit organizations, and other able entities for farm to school programs that improve the access of school lunch and breakfast program participants to local foods. Programs would be designed to support experiential nutrition education by involving school children in farm and garden-based agricultural education activities. Each grant may include an implementation grant, training and technical assistance grant and planning grant.

Food Marketing in Schools Assessment Act, H.R. 3625

The bill would direct the Secretary of Education to study and report to the Congress on the marketing of food and beverages in elementary and secondary schools. It would require such study to assess the nutritional quality of such foods, the media through which they are marketed to children in such schools, and mechanisms that regulate such marketing. Lastly the bill directs the Secretary to collaborate in the conduct of such study with the Division of Adolescent and School Health of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.   

Greening Food Deserts Act, H.R. 4971

The bill would direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish the Office of Urban Agriculture which shall coordinate Department of Agriculture (USDA) activities related to urban agriculture and nutrition; and to provide technical assistance in support of backyard conservation and community gardening programs involving small-scale subsistence and personal-use agriculture. It would also amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act and the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to increase reimbursement rates for school lunch, breakfast, and summer food service meals consisting in whole or part of foods produced through agricultural education programs that use enrolled students to produce food and provide the food to in-house feeding programs.

Growing Farm to School Programs Act of 2010, S. 3123

The bill would amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to replace the farm-to-cafeteria program with a program providing schools, state and local agencies, Indian tribes, agricultural producers, and nonprofits with competitive matching grants and technical assistance to improve access to local foods by schools participating in the school lunch or breakfast programs. Priority would be given to projects that: benefit local small- and medium-sized farms; serve a high proportion of children who are eligible for free or reduced price lunches; and incorporate experiential nutrition education by involving school children in farm and garden-based agricultural education activities.   

Healthy Children Through School Nutrition Education Act, H.R. 4958

The bill amends the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 to require local educational agencies participating in the school lunch or breakfast programs to include in their school wellness policies the requirement that each student receive 50 hours of nutrition education each school year.      

Healthy Food Choices for Kids Act, H.R. 2322

A pilot program would provide funds to 10 schools in 10 states to post nutrition information in school cafeterias and teach students how to make healthy food decisions. States must apply to receive funds and offer information on: how they plan to inform schools within the state about the program; assure that 95% of funds will be awarded to schools in accordance with the programs; guarantee that at least 3 but no more than 5 schools within each state that receive funding must already post nutrition information in their cafeterias; guarantee that at least 3 but no more than 5 grantee schools must be located in rural areas. The funds would last for a number of years.      

Healthy Food for Healthy Schools Act of 2009, S. 1650 (of 2010, H.R. 4607)

Amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to: (1) provide states, school food authorities, local educational agencies, and local processing entities with model product specifications and practices for foods offered in the school lunch and breakfast programs so that such foods reflect the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans; (2) analyze, and report to Congress on, the quantity and quality of nutritional information available to school food authorities about food service products and commodities; and (3) purchase, to the maximum extent possible, the widest variety of healthful foods for the school lunch and breakfast programs that reflect the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans.    

Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 S. 3307

The bill would reauthorize the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act and the Child Nutrition Act of 1966. It would also work to reduce childhood obesity and improve the diets of children with stricter standards, improved management and expanded provisions for the National School Lunch Program, the Child and Adult Care Food Program, the Summer Food Service Program and the WIC Program.

Healthy Living Starts Early Act of 2010, S. 3124

The bill would amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to improve child health and nutrition and reduce administrative burdens for child care sponsors and providers. In addition, the Secretary of Agriculture should provide technical assistance to institutions for age- appropriate physical activity, nutrition and recommended electronic media use. The Secretary shall reconvene a working group to continue to examine the feasibility of reducing unnecessary or duplicative paperwork for State agencies, institutions, family and group day care homes and sponsored centers participating in the program.

Healthy Milk and Dairy Choices Act of 2010, H.R. 4963

The bill would amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to require the fat content of milk served in school lunches to be consistent with the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans. It would also amend the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to include nonprofit schools and child care institutions that participate in the school lunch or breakfast programs in the special milk program.

Healthy School Meals Act of 2010, H.R. 4870

The bill would direct the Secretary of Agriculture to select school food authorities for a pilot program evaluating the use of plant-based alternate protein products and fluid milk substitutes under the school lunch and breakfast programs. Within two years of this Act's enactment, the Secretary shall promulgate regulations that: (1) reflect specific recommendations for increased consumption of plant-based foods; and (2) provide for the distribution of supplemental commodity assistance or cash in lieu thereof to states and certain school food authorities that offer a plant-based entree on their daily lunch menus, for the purchase of entirely plant-based commodity food products or fluid milk substitutes.

Healthy Schools Partnerships Act of 2010, S. 3342

The bill would amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to establish a demonstration project to promote collaborations to improve school nutrition. Under the project, the Secretary would make grants to school food authorities to fund collaborations of academic experts, nonprofit organizations, nutrition professionals, community partners and local schools to improve nutrition education, student decision-making and healthy school environments. The Secretary would give priority to entities that demonstrate a severe need to improve the school environment, as demonstrated by high numbers of students receiving free or reduced price lunches, high levels of obesity or other indicators of poor health status, and health disparities in the community served by the school.

Healthy Start Act, H.R. 4638

The legislation would amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to provide commodity assistance to States participating in the school breakfast program. The total amount of commodity assistance, or cash in lieu of commodity assistance, available to a State for the school breakfast program shall be obtained by multiplying the number of breakfasts served in the preceding school year, by the rate established under the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 with annual adjustment.

Hunger Free Schools Act, S. 1343/ H.R.4148

The bill would amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to make performance awards to states that demonstrate outstanding performance in directly certifying as eligible for free meals under the school lunch and breakfast programs any children whose families are eligible for supplemental nutrition assistance. It also requires direct certification of children who participate in CHIP and those lower than 133% of the federal poverty level.    

Improved Nutrition and Physical Activity Act, H.R. 2276

The HHS Secretary can designate grants to primary care physicians and other certified health professionals to train them to identify, refer or treat, and prevent obesity or eating disorders and aid individuals who are overweight, obese, or suffer from eating disorders. Physicians may use evidence based findings or recommendations to conduct educational conferences and internet-based courses and teleconferences on: how to prevent obesity, being overweight and eating disorders; the link between these illnesses and chronic medical conditions; the connection between emotional and physical health; how to identify those suffering from or at risk of being overweight, obese or an eating disorder; how to conduct a comprehensive assessment of individual and familial health risk factors. Grantees must apply for grants; $10 million would be awarded in fiscal year 2010.

Improving Nutrition for America's Children Act, H.R. 5504

The bill reauthorizes child nutrition programs and would aim to end child hunger through categorical changes, such as increasing access by direct certification, outreach, or community eligibility, to the National School Lunch Program, Summer Food Service Program, Child and Adult Care Food Program and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children. The bill would also work to improve the nutrition quality of food offered via federal programs with nutrition standards for all foods sold in schools, the promotion of farm to school programs and support for breastfeeding women participating in the WIC program.

Increased Program Access Act, S. 3040/ H.R. 4734

The bill would amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to reimburse summer food service programs for children in service institutions and food programs for children in afterschool care for free meals or snacks served to children in areas where at least 40% (currently, 50%) of the children meet the income eligibility criteria for free or reduced price meals under the school lunch and breakfast programs. It would also direct the Secretary of Agriculture to award competitive grants to service institutions to increase participation at feeding sites in summer food service programs for children through innovative approaches to limited rural transportation.

Lean Act of 2009, S. 558/H.R. 1398

The bill would mandate all chain restaurants with 20 or more locations to clearly post nutrition information and caloric content for each food item; the information can be posted on the board next to the food item, on a sign that presents “food items in a manner similar to the menu board and located on the same wall as the menu board”  or at customer eye-level and readable from the line. If an establishment does not list calories on a menu board or menu, the establishment is required to post the suggested daily caloric intake as 2000 calories in its place.    

Menu Education and Labeling Act (MEAL Act), S. 1048/H.R. 2426

The bill would amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to extend the food labeling requirements of the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990 to require chains with 20 or more locations to display prominently on the menu, including drive-thrus: the number of calories, grams of saturated fat, grams of carbohydrates and milligrams of sodium for each menu item. Vending machines would be required to post nutrition information for each item on a sign in close proximity detailing the number of calories in each food item.

Military Family Nutrition Protection Act of 2009, S. 581

The bill would exclude combat pay from household income in calculating a child's eligibility for free or reduced price meals, and from a family’s income in calculating SNAP and WIC eligibility.

National Farm-to-School Act of 2010, H.R. 5456

The bill would amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to require the Secretary of Agriculture to provide competitive matching grants and technical assistance to schools, local educational agencies (LEAs), institutions of higher education, and certain governmental and nongovernmental entities to implement or expand farm-to-school programs.

Obesity Prevention, Treatment and Research Act of 2009, S. 1060

The bill would amend the Public Health Service Act to create a United States Council on Overweight-Obesity Prevention (USCO-OP) which shall consist of: Secretaries from the DoA, DoE, HUD, DoI, FTC, and HHS; directors of the CFC, NIH and AHRA, CMS administrators; and five representatives from expert organizations. Federal agency representatives would be required to meet on a regular basis to: develop strategies to comprehensively address overweight and obesity, work with appropriate entities to evaluate effectiveness of obesity and overweight interventions, update the NIH clinical guidelines report to include sections on childhood obesity, to make recommendations for obesity-related information to be included in electronic health records. The USCO-OP must issue an annual report on: its activities and efforts; the effectiveness of its interventions; recommendations for the following year’s strategic plan. A Pilot Program for state, local or private that work to prevent and address obesity through community-based methods; grants will be targeted to populations disproportionately affected by overweight or obesity.

Obesity Treatment and Wellness Act of 2009, H.R. 3092

The bill would require Medicaid to coverage medical nutrition therapy as part of Medicaid in cases where a physician considers it medically necessary to treat or prevent the progression of a chronic disease, or at risk of developing, as the result of being overweight and obese.

Pregnant Women Support Act, S.270/H.R. 605

Broadly, the bill would provide for programs that reduce the need for abortion, help women bear healthy children, and support new parents. Provisions include grants for increasing public awareness of resources for pregnant women and new parents; strike the preexisting condition cause in individual health insurance coverage; expanding coverage to pregnant women under Medicaid and SCHIP; providing support to college-age, teen, and new parents. Under Title XI ‘Providing Support to New Parents’ the legislation calls for the expansion of the WIC program citing the importance of  nutrition services for obesity prevention.

School Enhancement of Talented Students (EATS) Act, H.R. 5738

The bill would amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to award competitive grants to states, local educational agencies, or school food authorities to reduce the amount of processed food served each day under the school lunch and breakfast programs. The bill grants priority to applicants in which at least 50% of the students enrolled in schools are eligible for free or reduced price meals; and located in states where the adult obesity rate is not less that 30% and the child obesity rate is more than 30%. Funds must be used to: procure unprocessed foods; train food service staff to prepare such foods; and purchase the equipment needed to prepare such foods.

Service for Healthier Kids Act, S.3449/H.R. 5432

The bill would authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to enter into an interagency agreement with the Corporation for National and Community Service to support a Nutrition Corps to carry out the national service programs that: increase access to, and participation in, the nutrition assistance programs administered by the Secretary of Agriculture; improve the quality of the nutrition assistance programs; and support local agriculture and farm-to-school initiatives. Services provided by the national service programs may include expanding access to the summer food service program, and conducting community needs assessments in support of efforts to reduce obesity, promote healthy eating, and end childhood hunger.

Start Healthy Habits Early Act, H.R. 5431

The bill would amend the Richard B. Russell School Lunch Act to provide aid to child and adult care institutions for the provision of nutritious foods that contribute to the wellness, healthy growth, and development of young children, and the health and wellness of older adults and chronically impaired disabled persons. Reimbursable meals and snacks served by institutions, family or group day care homes participating in the Child and Adult Care Food Program would be required to meet minimum nutritional requirements prescribed by the Secretary of Agriculture. The Secretary shall assist participating institutions through technical assistance and guidance, and competitive grants for the purpose of promoting the health and nutrition of children in child care settings.

Student Breakfast and Education Improvement Act of 2009, S. 1480/ H.R. 3277

The legislation would amend the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to establish a program to improve the health and education of children through grants to expand school breakfast programs. Schools may use the grant to, among other things: establish, promote or expand a school breakfast program with a nutritional education component; increase the local or fresh food available to the school breakfast program; and provide nutritional education materials to students.

Summer Food Service Rural Expansion Act, H.R. 540

The legislation would amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to make the summer food service project for rural areas permanent and expand the program to rural areas nationally.

Universal Classroom Breakfast Expansion Act, H.R. 4325

Under the bill, the Secretary of Agriculture would award competitive grants to states and subgrants to schools to assist in establishing universal free breakfast programs for all of their students for at least three years. States would provide (1) technical assistance to schools in implementing such programs; (2) targeted outreach to schools with the highest percentage of students who are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches under the school lunch program; and (3) subgrant priority to schools in which 75% or more of the students are eligible for such lunches.

Weekends Without Hunger Act, S. 3292

The bill would amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to implement a five-year pilot program providing commodities to nonprofits for the provision of nutritious food to at-risk school children on weekends and during extended school holidays during the school year. Entities eligible to receive funding include elementary and secondary schools, school food authorities and nonprofit recipients of commodities. At-risk school children can be classified as those who participate in the school lunch program and reside in an area served by a school in which at least 50% of the students receive free or reduced price meals under the school lunch or breakfast programs.

The White House Conference on Food and Nutrition, H.R. 2297

The bill would call for a White House Conference on Food and Nutrition to make fundamental policy recommendations on ways to end hunger and to improve nutrition; determine which federal, state and local nutritional health programs are effective and ensure coordination between them; highlight innovative programs, including community-based and faith-based organizations that serve vulnerable populations cost-effectively; illustrate the impact of hunger on lost wages, reduced capacity to learn and national security; the committee would number 17 with nine presidential appointees, four House appointees and four Senate appointees; the committee would be formed no later than December 30, 2010.