Saving our children (Sen. Blanche Lincoln)

Childhood hunger and obesity are problems known all too well in my home
state of Arkansas. A recent Feeding America report found our state to
have the highest rate of childhood hunger in the country at nearly 25
percent. That’s one in four children living in hunger.

Another report found 20 percent of Arkansas children to be obese, the
seventh highest rate in the country.

As Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and
Forestry, I have authored the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010,
which addresses these two threats by making strong improvements to our
federal child nutrition programs. Funding authorization for these
programs expires in 78 days.

Children who are hungry or obese will face learning challenges and
lifelong health problems. And their poor health will add significant
cost to our health care system and a significant cost to our nation’s
future economic security.

Fortunately, hunger is a disease for which we have the cure. And we
know healthier meals are part of the solution to reverse the growing
epidemic of childhood obesity.

But time is running out, and current programs expire on September 30.
If we fail to enact this critically-needed legislation, we will have to
expand current law and our children will be forced to live with the
status quo. That’s why I hope you will take action now. Washington’s
leaders need to know that you stand behind our nation’s greatest
blessings, our children.

My counterpart in the House of Representatives, Congressman George
Miller, and I have sent a letter to President Obama urging him to make
child nutrition reauthorization a top priority of his Administration
over the next two months. You can help by adding your name to this letter on behalf of our children and our
future.

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 unanimously passed my
committee earlier this year and is completely paid for. It is a common
sense solution that provides additional resources to help our schools
serve healthier meals. For the first time in nearly 40 years, Congress
would provide an increase in the reimbursement rate for schools that
agree to serve healthier lunches. I have spoken to dozens of Arkansas
school food professionals who tell me these additional funds are
desperately needed.

For the first time ever, the Secretary of Agriculture would have the
authority to establish national nutrition standards for all food sold at
schools. This will mean that healthier, more nutritious foods will be
more widely available throughout the school campus. For parents, they
can be more comfortable knowing that less nutritious options will be
reduced. My bill also reduces the bureaucratic red tape that inhibits
families from receiving the school meals for which they are eligible.

Nationwide, over 30 million children participate in the National School
Lunch Program each day, including more than 350,000 Arkansas children.
More than 10 million children participate in the breakfast program,
18,000 of them in Arkansas. We have a real opportunity to improve
access and food quality in these and other life-sustaining programs.

A bipartisan majority of Senators and House members are already on
record supporting reauthorization of our child nutrition programs. We
must not squander this historic opportunity to make strong improvements
to our child nutrition programs that will put us on a path toward ending
childhood hunger and reversing the trend of childhood obesity.

Congress has 78 days to send a robust child nutrition bill to the
President to avoid another extension of current law. By taking action
now and adding your name to our letter today, you can show that you’re
standing with our children. It’s for their future, and for our own
future.

Cross-posted from Huffingtonpost.com