September 15, 2003

Child Nutrition Reauthorization Action Alert:
Advocates Continue To Press For Child Nutrition Investments With No Harm To The Programs

Congress' return from recess resulted in a flurry of Reauthorization activity last week.

The Food Policy Working Group, a coalition of faith-based organizations, briefed the Senate Agriculture Committee on the changes needed to strengthen and improve the child nutrition programs. Its recommendations closely mirrored FRAC's short list of top priorities for Child Nutrition Reauthorization: http://www.frac.org/pdf/cnpriorities.PDF

Meanwhile, on the House side, the Child Nutrition Forum, a coalition of education, community-based, religious, farm, commodity and nutrition organizations chaired by FRAC and the American School Food Service Association, met with Rep. Castle (R-DE), Chair of the House Subcommittee on Education Reform, which has jurisdiction over Reauthorization, to brief him on its priorities and discuss the timeline for Reauthorization in the House.

The House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman Boehner (R-OH) and Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Cochran (R-MS), which have jurisdiction over Reauthorization, are expected to introduce their Child Nutrition bills (called "Chairman's marks") very soon. House hearings on Child Nutrition programs originally scheduled for September have been postponed and may occur in October.

Based on conversations, it continues to be likely (albeit not certain) that Congress will begin to move Child Nutrition Reauthorization prior to its adjournment for the year, which may occur as early as late October, but could move into November. This makes it crucial for you to communicate with your members of Congress again this week and throughout this process. Please contact them with the message to enact positive improvements and do no harm to the Child Nutrition programs. Since mail on Capitol Hill still goes through irradiation, the best way to contact members and staff remains: 1) phone calls; 2) faxes; and 3) emails. Visits back home on the weekends and over a congressional break the week of Oct. 6th continue to work best!

New FRAC policy briefs:

• Meeting the Child Nutrition Challenges Facing Rural Areas explains the difficulties in operating the nutrition programs in rural areas and makes recommendations to improve access within these under-served communities.

• The Need for Afterschool Suppers lays out the arguments on the need to make into a national program the afterschool supper program currently available to seven states.

Both pieces can be used to further your efforts to expand the programs. They are available at FRAC's Reauthorization Center.

Actions to Take:

1. Call your Senators and Representative with the message to enact positive improvements and do no harm to the Child Nutrition Programs. Ask to speak to their Child Nutrition staffers.
   
   • Senators from AR, GA, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, SD and VT are on the Agriculture Committee. Click here for information about their Child Nutrition staffers. If your Senators are from another state, urge them to weigh in with Agriculture Committee members with the same message. You can find their child nutrition staffers also by clicking above.
     
     
   • Contact your Representative with the same message. If your Representative is on the committee, you can find contact information for his or her Child Nutrition staffer here.

   
   

2. Send your Senators and Representative an e-mail on Child Nutrition Reauthorization from the FRAC website.
   
   
3. Encourage your networks and community to call and e-mail their members of Congress about Child Nutrition Reauthorization. Forward this alert to them, with the link above to the e-mail to Congress. Or send them your own message with this link: http://capwiz.com/frac/home/. Make sure the local teachers union, the dietetic association, school food service association, afterschool and child care providers and other concerned groups are aware of and involved in the process. Encourage them to call and to send the letter from the FRAC website to their members of Congress. If you are able to schedule a meeting with your members of Congress, bring representatives from those groups with you to the meeting.
   

Factsheets on Child Nutrition Programs School Breakfast  |  School Lunch  |  Afterschool  |  Summer Food Women, Infants, and Children  |  Child and Adult Care Food Program

Prepared by the Food Research & Action Center, 1875 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20009; 202-986-2200; www.frac.org