By Ed Bruske Contributing Editor The D.C. Council yesterday agreed to fully fund the recently approved “Healthy Schools” initiative, but not with the “soda tax” proposed by Councilmember Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3). Rather, the city will begin imposing a more traditional sales tax of six percent on all soft drinks sold in the District. What, [...]
By Ed Bruske Contributing Editor A proposed tax on soft drinks to fund “Healthy Schools” legislation appears to be on shaky ground at best and may be dead on arrival. Meanwhile, social service advocates are engaged in a mad scramble to stave off cuts to services for the poor. While some members of the D.C. [...]
Posted in SchoolsD.C. Councilmember Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3), who has vowed to pay for her “Healthy Schools” legislation one way or another, has asked colleagues to approve a tax on soda sales in the District of Columbia as a means of raising the estimated $6.5 million annual cost of the omnibus bill aimed at improving school nutrition and combating the city’s high childhood obesity rate.
In her letter to other members of the Council, Cheh does not specify a tax rate for sodas, but quotes the director of the U.S. Center for Disease Control as saying that a tax of 1 cent per ounce on soft drinks–or approximately 10 percent–would be the “single most effective measure to reverse the obesity epidemic.”
Cheh notes that since the repeal of a city tax on snack foods in 2001, there is no tax in the District on sodas except those purchased from vending machines. Meanwhile, Maryland levies a 6 percent sales tax on soda, while Virginia charges 1.5 percent. plus a state excise tax. Revenue from Cheh’s proposed soda tax would be directed into a special “Healthy Schools” fund, to be used only for purposes outlined in the bill.
In addition to providing additional funds for school breakfasts and lunches, the “Healthy Schools” bill would also help fund the purchase of local produce for school meals and establish grants for school gardens. While the legislation has won widespread support on the Council and among healthy food advocates, it has been dogged by questions of how Cheh would finance the plan when the city is in financial pain.
Special soda taxes have been proposed in other cities–notably New York–as a means of attacking the obesity problem. But this is the first time the issue has been raised seriously here. The “Healthy Schools” legislation, which sailed through committee and an initial Council vote recently, is scheduled to come up for a second and final vote on May 5.
An aide to Cheh last night said Cheh proposes to attach the soda tax to the city’s proposed general budget legislation, scheduled for a vote May 25, and expects that it will spark a fierce reaction from the food and beverage industries.
The proposed soda tax could also ingnite protests from the city’s black and low-income residents. Cheh says in her letter that such a tax most likely will fall heaviest on the District’s poor, who are also at greatest risk for being overweight or obese. “This means that children in the District who are at the greatest risk for childhood obesity are the most likely to decrease their consumption of sugary beverages as a result of a soda tax.”
By Ed Bruske Contributing Editor I was ready to have a perfectly civilized discussion–blog-to-blog–with Sam Fromartz over at ChewsWise on the subject of what we can do to get kids to eat better when I was stopped dead in my tracks by the lunch being served at my daughter’s elementary school here in the nation’s [...]
Posted in SchoolsBy Ed Bruske
Contributing Editor
Improved nutrition, easier access to school food and incorporating local produce in school meals would cost the District an estimated $6.5 million annually under proposed “Healthy Schools” legislation, according to the D.C. government’s Chief Financial Officer, Natwar M. Gandi.
Gandi released written testimony yesterday indicating that most of that money would be spent on increasing the city’s contribution to school meals by 10 cents for breakfast and 10 cents for lunch, as well as a 5 cent bonus for meals that contain locally grown products, free breakfast for all students and covering the cost currently paid by students who qualify for reduced-price meals under the federally-subsidized meal program.
The cost of the legislation, which had previously been undetermined, brought out a parade of charter school officials complaining that they did not have the means to pay for it. They appeared at hearings before D.C. Councilmember Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3), author of the bill.
“This is much like ‘No Child Left Behind,’ full of unfunded mandates,” said Donald Hense, of Friendship Public Charter School. “The financial incentives are not enough for us to change our food service.”
Along with setting healthier food standards, the legislation also mandates increased physical activity for children. Charter school officials said in many cases their schools have neither the funds nor the facilities to comply with the proposed standards. “How can charter schools implement all this?” said Josphine Baker, executive director of the Public Charter School Board. “Ten cents for breakfast and lunch is just barely enough. It could be cost prohibitive for all schools to use local produce. It’s a challenge sometimes to provide both a rigorous education and healthy, nutritious meals.”
Gandi estimated the total cost of the legislation for the city’s charter schools at $1.6 million. Cheh vowed that she will find funding to cover all of the bills requirements. “We fully appreciate the costs,” she said. “I’m working assiduously on getting that money. And I’m pretty much sure that I will get that money.”
Cheh added that the legislation will save money in the long run in reduced health costs for city residents. “Even if it cost money and we didn’t save money, how much is it worth to have people lead healthy lives?” Cheh said. “We will save money and have better lives.
Ed Bruske writes The Slow Cook blog.
Posted in SchoolsBy Ed Bruske
Contributing Editor
I suppose it was bound to happen sooner or later. But after I wrote my series of articles on the woeful state of school food in the District of Columbia, a parents group coalesced around the idea of making improvements by working directly with school food service officials and advocacy organizations such as the D.C. Farm to School Network.
We are Parents for Better D.C. School Food, and in the past month we have formed a Google group (35 members so far), a Facebook page (68 fans) and a daily blog, where we routinely visit school cafeterias to photograph and analyze the food, and publish penetrating essays from other parents about allergy issues, how to get kids to eat real food, microwaves, nachos and analysis of the latest proposals for the Child Nutrition Act re-autorization, to name a few.
For too long, parents have been largely silent on the issue of what our schools are feeding our kids. Perhaps that’s because school food traditionally has been treated as a kind of joke, and is a part of our lives so easy to ignore. It’s safe to say that few parents have ever seen the inside of a school cafeteria since they were a child themselves, let alone the kitchen where the food is prepared. Except for the occasional gossip they pick up from their child, they have no idea what kids are eating at school, even less what’s in the food that’s being served.
Maybe they’d rather not know. As I found out spending a week in the kitchen at my daughter’s school, the food is not a pretty sight. In fact, it’s some of the worst our over-processed food system has to offer.
Posted in SchoolsBy Ed Bruske
Contributing Editor
Re-tooled language in “Healthy Schools” legislation scheduled for a public hearing before the D.C. Council this week would require city schools to provide parents each year with a measurement of the body mass index and waist-to-hip ratio of every child, as well as an estimate of the amount of exercise each child engages in. It also calls on city schools to consider extending the school day in order for children to have more time for physical activity, and would offer grants to schools that commit to making students more active.
Schools would also be required to send parents information in English and Spanish explaining how to interpret unhealthy body mass and waist-to-hip information and what steps can be taken to address weight problems.
Drafters of the legislation last week backed away from strict nutrition standards recommended by the Institute of Medicine that would require increased portion sizes of vegetables served in school meals, saying schools cannot guarantee the quality of vegetables offered in cafeterias or that students won’t throw them in the trash.
Instead, the legislation embraces requirements set forth in the U.S. Department of Agriculture “HealthierUS School Challenge,” which establishes several different levels of stringency in school food nutrition.
The “Healthy Schools” bill would require all D.C. public schools to adopt the “gold” level of the USDA program, meaning school cafeterias would need to offer 1/4-cup servings of dark green or orange vegetables three or more days per week, and cooked dry beans or peas once per week. Schools would also be required to offer a different fruit, either fresh, frozen, canned, dried or 100 percent juice, every day of the week, but 100 percent fruit juice could be counted as fruit only once per week. At least one serving of whole-grain food would be offered each day.
The new bill also drops an attempt to create detailed nutrition standards for foods served outside the reqular food line in school cafeterias–so-called “competitive” foods–as well as those sold in vending machines and in school stores. Again, the “HealthierUS School Challenge” standards would apply. Total fat in those foods could be no more than 35 percent of calories, trans fat must be less than .5 grams per serving, saturated fat less than 10 percent and sugar no more than 35 percent by weight.
The only beverages allowed would be low-fat or skim milk, 100 percent fruit juice with no sweeteners and water, meaning no sugary sodas, sports drinks or ice teas. The standards would not apply to foods and beverages offered at official after-school events.
By Ed Bruske
Contributing Editor
In a move that could signal a serious fault line in the argument for more vegetables as a tonic for childhood obesity, drafters of “Healthy Schools” legislation pending before the D.C. Council have skuttled a push for additional produce in school meals after school officials said they cannot guarantee their kitchens can prepare vegetables that kids will actually eat and not throw in the trash.
“More vegetables” has become a mantra of advocates for healthier school food, including first Lady Michell Obama, whose White House vegetable garden created a sensation. The “Healthy Schools” bill, scheduled to come up for a hearing next week, had embraced standards proposed by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) that would require larger servings of fruits, vegetables–especially green and organge vegetables and legumes–and whole grains as part of an upgraded school nutrition package designed to bring school meals in line with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
The IOM panel that made the recommendations, working at the behest of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, warned, however, that requiring more produce and whole grains would drive up the cost of school meals, and that there could be no guarantee that children would eat them. The requirement for heftier vegetable servings was dropped from the “Healthy Schools” bill after D.C. school officials asserted they did not want to spend precious resources on food that would only end up being thrown away.
“We heard from many that if schools are serving mushy, flavorless green beans that students are simply throwing away, that doubling the portion size would simply double the amount of mushy, flavorless green beans that are thrown away,” said an aide to Councilmember Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3), author of the bill. “Instead, many have said that we should focus our energy and money first on improving the quality of the foods being served before we consider mandating an increase in portion sizes.”
Advocates of farm to school programs here and across the country contend that schools can serve meals that are more healthful and appealing by using more locally grown produce. But vegetables traditionally are a hard sell in school cafeterias. The foods most favored by children are pizza, all forms of potatoes and corn, in that order. As I found while spending a week in the kitchen of my daughter’s elementary school here in the District, vegetables typically are cooked to death and rejected by kids. A 1996 nationwide survey of school food service managers by the U.S. General Accounting Office revealed that 42 percent of cooked vegetables — and 30 percent of raw vegetables and salad — ended up in the trash.
The move to eliminate additional vegetables from “Healthy Schools” legislation suggests that mandating better school meals may not work without funding improvements to school kitchens. In fact, the trend in school food service for years has been in just the opposite direction–to reduce labor costs, which represent half of food service costs, by hiring less skilled kitchen workers who do not work enough hours to qualify for benefits. Frequently, school kitchens are staffed by “warmer-uppers” whose sole skill is being able to re-heat foods that have been pre-cooked in distant factories and shipped frozen. Sensitive perishables such as vegetables suffer as a result.
“If we’re going to win Michele Obama’s war on obesity and if her ‘Let’s Move’ campaign is going to be successful, then we need to ensure healthy delicious food. We need funds to pay for cooking kitchens, to train staff, and to market to kids to eat the food,” said Ann Cooper, noted school food activist and director of nutrition for schools in Boulder, Colorado.
“That seems like nonsense about kids not eating the veggies…of course they won’t if it looks and tastes like cardboard,” said Debra Eschmeyer, director of the National Farm to School Network. “Kids will eat fresh tasty veggies if they have a chance to access them and learn about them. I didn’t believe it until I saw it with my own eyes hundreds of times. Kids will eat chard, broccoli, beets, etc. and love it when they have a chance to grow it and have a real learning experience.”
The IOM report suggested there might be funds for school kitchen upgrades in the “Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food” (PDF) program instituted last year by USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan. Merrigan has said that nearly $1 billion in federal grant funds used in the past for building rural fire stations, hospitals and community centers could be allocated to food-related projects, such as building storage facilities for locally grown produce, food markets and school kitchens. But schools would need to apply for the money.
In a separate development yesterday, legislation making its way through the U.S. Senate would provide an additional 6 cents per school meal–something less than $500 million more annually–but that money would be contingent on federally-subsidized meal programs adopting the IOM standards. The School Nutrition Association, representing food service directors across the country, has asked for a minimum increase of 35 cents per meal. But others, such as Cooper, say anything less than $1 a day for each child in the program falls short of what is actually needed.
Still, the retooled “Healthy Schools” legislation sets forth substantial increases in local financial support for school meals, some of which could be used to purchase more vegetables and other healthful ingredients.
