Who would have thought that something as beneficial-sounding as the federal school lunch program, which provides lunch to low-income children, would be a culprit in the childhood obesity epidemic?  Many experts believe it could be.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture runs the school lunch program, providing free or reduced price lunches to kids living near the poverty level by sending schools surplus commodities it buys up from U.S. agri-businesses.  But in addition to feeding poor kids, the USDA’s other goal in the program is providing price support to farmers and agri-business who can’t sell enough of their products.  As new White House chef Sam Kass points out, these disparate allegiances create a problem:  what’s good for farmers is not necessarily good for kids.  Excess commodities tend to be mostly meat-, potato- and corn-based products.  Processed into hamburger patties, French fries and frozen pizzas, these surplus foods are then shipped to schools whose students qualify for free or reduced price lunches. 

Some 30 million kids across America get lunch- and sometimes breakfast- from this program.  But demographically, these are mostly the same kids – those from families living near the poverty level – where rates of obesity have climbed to alarming percentages.  The percentage of obese U.S. children and teens doubled between 1971 and 2006, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but they are disproportionately found in low income communities. Teens in poor communities are twice as likely to be obese as teens in their national peer group, according to Douglas Besharov, a scholar in social welfare issues with the American Enterprise Institute.  Could there be a link – and a solution to be sought after?  What if these kids could also get locally-grown, green, leafy vegetables and fruits on their lunch trays? 

Advocates of locally-grown whole foods are starting to step forward and talk about changing what foods are made available to school children. Some of these advocates are in high places:  First Lady Michelle Obama recently planted a vegetable garden on the White House lawn, saying she wants to show children where locally grown vegetables come from.  Presidential chef Sam Kass is a proponent of greening up the school lunch program and has convened meetings on the subject.  The New America Foundation says that 70 percent of schools receiving federal school lunch assistance do not meet even the loose nutrition requirements the government sets for serving this food. 

The moment is ripe for harvesting change. This year, Congress will vote on reauthorizing the Child Nutrition and WIC Act, which not only governs the federal school lunch program but also set nutritional standards for all foods sold in schools.  The last reauthorization in 2004 brought significant improvements such as requiring schools to have wellness programs.  But more surely needs to be done to green up the cafeteria tray.  The Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee began hearings on reauthorization. For every advocate of healthy foods testifying before the Senate committee there was also a representative of agri-business or food companies whose primary interest is not losing the school market.  A lot is at stake – to both parties.

We need a Green Food Corps to make sure this moment is not lost, to make sure that locally-grown, leafy green vegetables and fruits find their way to our nation’s schools.

The National Parent Teacher Association told the Senate committee on March 31 that it wants to see five changes in the Child Nutrition Act. Among them, said NPTA chief executive Byron Garrett, are to requiring “the development of best practices for the processing of USDA commodities,” to more closely align with the government’s own 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans statement about nutritious foods needed. Secondly, the National PTA and a slew of other groups want the Child Nutrition Act to set national nutrition standards “for school foods sold outside of the school meals programs,” so that chips and soda sold in vending machines don’t undermine efforts to nourish kids with what is sold on the lunch line.