Obama signs long-awaited school lunch bill

12-13-2010

By Christina A. Samuels/Education Week

President Obama signed a long-awaited bill today that provides more money to districts for school lunches and improves nutritional standards for food provided in schools. But education and anti-hunger groups say that work is still needed to make sure implementing the $4.5 billion law doesn’t burden school districts or harm other federal programs aimed at reducing food costs for low-income families. Congress passed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act Dec. 3. The measure provides the first noninflationary increase for school lunches in more than 30 years, adding 6 cents per meal to district food-service budgets. Currently, districts are reimbursed $2.72 for each free school lunch they provide; reimbursement rates are lower for reduced- and full-price meals. The legislation will also make it easier for more students to qualify for free lunches by directly certifying them using Medicaid data or by eliminating paperwork requirements, and it creates new training and certification requirements for school food-service personnel. The law also gives the U.S. secretary of agriculture the authority to put forth new nutrition standards for school meals. (more…)

Also: Huffington Post, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

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Obama signs long-awaited school lunch bill

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