The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) administers the school meal programs that provide nutritious, lowcost meals to about 30 million children each day, according to USDA fiscal year 2019 data. School food authorities participating in the National School Lunch Program or the School Breakfast Program must comply…

The federal government has prescribed nutritional requirements for school meals since the authorization of the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) in 1946. Such requirements have changed throughout the course of history. Current law requires the Secretary of Agriculture to prescribe "minimum nutritional requirements" based on…

This report starts with an overview of child nutrition programs' funding structure and then provides detail on each program, including a discussion of how they are administered, eligibility rules for institutions and participants, nutritional and other program requirements, and recent policy changes. Changes to child nutrition programs that have…

The federal government has a long history of investing in programs for feeding children, starting with federal aid for school lunch programs in the 1930s. Today, federal child nutrition programs support food served to children in schools and a variety of other institutional settings. The child nutrition programs support meals and snacks served to…

The number of overweight and obese children and adolescents has reached epidemic proportions, and recent federal surveys show that most school meals do not meet federal nutrition guidelines. Accordingly, there is growing interest in the nutritional quality of foods available in U.S. schools--and in the role of the government in helping to make…

This document is the sixth annual, legislatively mandated report on the human nutrition research and education activities of the United States Department of Agriculture for fiscal year 1992 in which directions and highlights are emphasized. The report contains six sections. Section 1 is an introduction. Section 2 covers human nutrition research…

This report contains testimony regarding House Resolution 4684, the National Nutrition Monitoring and Related Research Act of 1984. The primary purpose of the bill is to: (1) implement a coordinated national nutrition monitoring and related research program; (2) provide a scientific basis for the improvement of the nutritional status of the…

The Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 (FQPA) requires that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which regulates the use of pesticides at the federal level, reevaluate the amounts of pesticide residues allowed on or in food. The EPA immediately began efforts to consider the additional safety factor for children, using available methods and…

Reviews the nutritional consequences of participation in food assistance programs, specifically the impact of these programs on the diets of African American households. Findings indicate that, although participants have better quality diets than nonparticipants, these diets are inadequate when compared to accepted dietary standards. Suggests…

School food-service programs, endangered by rising costs, would benefit by taking the following steps: (1) improve food quality and presentation; (2) renovate the appearance of cafeterias; (3) enlist cafeteria personnel in reforms and include profit sharing; (4) update management procedures; and (5) cut bureaucracy. (MLF)

Twenty outbreaks of foodborne illness in schools were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) during 1997; however, only 8 cases were associated with food served in the school meal programs. Preliminary findings identified nine outbreaks in 1998, affecting an estimated 1,609 individuals. CDC notes that such outbreaks are…

Describes initiatives in New York State to meet student nutrition needs, including the Statewide Training Network for School Food Service Workers and the Nutrition Comes Alive in the Cafeteria program. Emphasizes the role of local boards of education in supporting better nutrition in school lunch and breakfast programs. (FMW)

In response to a Congressional request, the General Accounting Office examined issues related to pesticide safety for children in agricultural settings. Pesticides can cause acute, chronic, or delayed-onset illnesses. Children may be exposed to pesticides through farm work; eating pesticide-treated foods; or contact with drift from pesticide…

In 1998, Congress authorized implementation of a 3-year pilot breakfast program involving 4,300 students in elementary schools in 6 school districts representing a range of economic and demographic characteristics. The program began in the 2000-01 school year. This lengthy report presents the findings from the pilot's first year. The study had two…

Noting the significant increase since 1990 in food-borne illnesses affecting school children, these hearings transcripts provide testimony on the safety of federal school lunches. Statements by Senator Richard Durbin and Representatives Stephen Horn, Janice Schakowsky, and Carolyn Maloney emphasized the array of federal agencies with various food…