CITY HALL \u2013 City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn and Council Members Helen Diane Foster, Lewis Fidler, Robert Jackson and Annabel Palma today held a hearing calling for key improvements to the Child Nutrition Act, which is currently pending reauthorization by Congress. The Child Nutrition Act is the federal legislation that determines school food policy and resources, including the Federal School Lunches and School Breakfast programs.<\/p>\n
New York City and State have much at stake based on the outcome of the reauthorization. Childhood obesity has doubled in New York over the past 25 years and now accounts for $242 million in statewide medical costs. In addition, one in five children in New York City relies on emergency food programs for meals.<\/p>\n
\u201cNew York City families have been hit hard by the recession, and now more than ever we need to make sure our children have access to healthy meals,\u201d said Speaker Christine C. Quinn. \u201cThe City Council has been working to fight two of the biggest challenges facing our city \u2013 hunger and obesity. And with a few key improvements to the Child Nutrition Act, we\u2019ll be able to provide free meals to tens of thousands of additional students, and improve the nutrition level of food we serve in our schools.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are many existing improvements to the Child Nutrition Act that have the support of the Council, including direct certification of eligibility, extending the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Program re-certification period from 6 months to 1 year, and a $50 million farm-to-school grant program.<\/p>\n
However, the Council still has a number of significant concerns with the current bill, and is calling for the following changes that would significantly benefit children in New York City and around the country:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Increasing the funding level from $450 million to $1 billion per year to match President Obama\u2019s proposal
\n\u2022 Ensuring the valuable Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – Education (SNAP Ed) Program is not sacrificed for other nutrition programs
\n\u2022 Extending a proposed pilot program to directly certify Medicaid recipients for free lunches to a full, nationwide program<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery child deserves to have access to nutritious meals, bar for too many go to bed hungry each night,\u201d said Council Member Helen Diane Foster, Chair of the Committee on State and Federal Legislation. \u201cThe Child Nutrition Act is one of the most powerful tools we have in our efforts to fight this epidemic of hunger. These key improvements will help us provide even better meals to even more of our children.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHealthy bodies make healthy minds and healthy children make for a healthy future,\u201d said Council Member Lewis A. Fidler, Chair of the Youth Services Committee. \u201cEnsuring proper nutrition for our nation’s children is not just a goal, it is a necessity.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHungry children can\u2019t concentrate, and if they can\u2019t concentrate they can\u2019t learn,\u201d said Council Member Robert Jackson, Chair of the Education Committee. \u201cIt is essential that we eliminate hunger and nutritional deficiencies in this country, one of the world\u2019s most advanced and wealthiest nations.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cChild nutrition programs are a crucial safety net for low-income children and help families stretch limited resources,\u201d said Council Member Annabel Palma, Chair of the General Welfare Committee. \u201cThe Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act is an opportunity to expand and strengthen these vital and successful programs which provide children with the year-round nutrition they need to grow up strong and healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCongress has a significant opportunity this year to pass a Child Nutrition Reauthorization that dramatically expands access to healthy meals for school children and advances us towards the goal of ending child hunger by 2015 \u2013 but they won\u2019t get there without strong advocacy,\u201d said Lucy Cabrera, Ph.D., President & CEO of the Food Bank For New York City. \u201cI thank Speaker Quinn and the City Council for sending Congress a clear message that this is what New York City needs, and that Child Nutrition improvements must not come at the cost of other valuable nutrition programs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSchool meals are the primary source of food for many New York City kids, especially the children served by City Harvest and other anti-hunger organizations,\u201d said Jilly Stephens, Executive Director of City Harvest. \u201cWe support the New York City Council\u2019s priorities for the Child Nutrition Act and ask that Congress provide at least $1 billion per year in additional funding to match President Obama\u2019s proposal.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are fighting hard to ensure that Congress uses the Child Nutrition Reauthorization Bill to provide serious resources to help meet President Obama’s goal of end U.S. child hunger by 2015. We are thrilled that Speaker Quinn and the Council are providing such strong leadership in that effort,\u201d said Joel Berg, Executive Director of the New York City Coalition Against Hunger.<\/p>\n
In addition to the resolution, Speaker Quinn and the Council Members have sent letters to key members of Congress, urging them to take up these amendments. The Council is also reaching out to other cities across New York State and the country, to for a united front in seeking improvements to the bill.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
CITY HALL \u2013 City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn and Council Members Helen Diane Foster, Lewis Fidler, Robert Jackson and Annabel Palma today held a hearing calling for key improvements to the Child Nutrition Act, which is currently pending reauthorization by Congress. The Child Nutrition Act is the federal legislation that determines school food policy and resources, including the Federal School Lunches and School Breakfast programs.<\/p>\n
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