Child nutrition bill derailed

[Guest guest]

House Republicans have temporarily blocked legislation to feed school meals

to thousands more hungry children.

Republicans used a procedural maneuver Wednesday to try to amend the $4.5

billion bill, which would give more needy children the opportunity to eat

free lunches at school and make those lunches healthier. First lady

Obama has lobbied for the bill as part of her " Let's Move " campaign to

combat childhood obesity.

House Democrats said the GOP amendment, which would have required background

checks for child care workers, was an effort to kill the bill and delayed a

final vote on the legislation rather than vote on the amendment.

Because the nutrition bill is identical to legislation passed by the Senate

in August, passage would send it to the White House for President Barack

Obama's signature. If the bill were amended, it would be sent back to the

Senate with little time left in the legislative session.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md. said the House would hold separate

votes on Thursday on the amendment and the bill.

Republicans say the nutrition bill is too costly and an example of

government overreach.

" It's not about making our children healthy and active, " said Rep.

Kline, R-Minn., the top Republican on the House Education and Labor

Committee. " We all want to see our children healthy and active. This is

about spending and the role of government and the size of government — a

debate about whether we're listening to our constituents or not. "

Former Alaska Gov. Palin has also taken a swipe at the first lady's

campaign, bringing cookies to a speech at a Pennsylvania school last month

and calling the campaign a " school cookie ban debate " and " nanny state run

amok " on her Twitter feed.

The legislation would give the government the power to decide what kinds of

foods could be sold and what ingredients may be limited in school lunch

lines and vending machines.

The Agriculture Department would create the standards, which would likely

keep popular foods like hamburgers and pizza in school cafeterias but make

them healthier, using leaner meat or whole wheat crust, for example. Vending

machines could be stocked with less candy and fewer high-calorie drinks.

The bill would provide money to serve more than 20 million additional

after-school meals annually to children in all 50 states. Many of those

children now only receive after-school snacks. It would also increase the

number of children eligible for school meals programs by at least 115,000,

using Medicaid and census data to identify them.

The legislation would increase the amount of money schools are reimbursed by

6 cents a meal, a priority for schools that say they don't have the dollars

to feed needy kids.

(This version CORRECTS that Palin is a former, not current, Alaska

governor.)

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Ortiz, MS, RD

*The FRUGAL Dietitian* <http://www.thefrugaldietitian.com>

Check out my blog: mixture of deals and nutrition

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" Nutrition is a science, Not an Opinion survey "