First Lady Michelle Obama and Secretary Tom Vilsack Visit HealthierUS School Award Winner

This morning Secretary Tom Vilsack joined First Lady Michelle Obama at Hollin Meadows Elementary School to recognize their Silver Meadal achievement in the US HealthierUS School Challenge.

USDA established the HealthierUS School Challenge as a way to recognize schools that are creating healthy school environments by promoting good nutrition and physical activity. Silver Medal winners offer a different fruit every day and fresh fruit at least one day per week, as well as have at least 70 percent average daily participation for lunch.

The First Lady and Secretary Vilsack passed out fresh fruit to students before joining other classes in the garden for a fall harvest.

Students at Hollin Meadows enjoy gardens planted by parents five years ago not only during recess, but also during class. Science classes learn about hydroponic plant growth, math classes measure creatures living in the gardens and students plant peanuts as they learn about Virginia history.

Permalink  |  Posted: 08:27PM Nov 18, 2009 by USDAblogger in USDA Web Site  |  Add Your Comment Here [2]

Secretary Vilsack: Addressing Child Hunger and Improving Health

Today I testified before the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Environment on the important issue of the upcoming reauthorization of the Department’s Child Nutrition Programs. We have a great opportunity right now to combat child hunger and improve the health and nutrition of children across the country, and we cannot let this moment pass us by.

From my first day as the Secretary of Agriculture, President Obama tasked me with improving the health and wellbeing of America’s children. We have made great strides in making progress towards these goals and raising awareness of this important issue - but we can do better. One out of every three children in America is either obese or overweight and our latest data show that over 12% of children ages 2-5 are obese. Moreover, families are struggling to provide their children food to eat. Yesterday we released the 2008 “Household Food Security in the United States” report showing that in over 500,000 families with children in 2008, one or more children simply do not get enough to eat--they had to cut the size of their meals, skip meals, or even go whole days without food at some time during the year.

The report is a wake-up call for us to get serious about food security, hunger and nutrition in this country. This is an incredibly sobering reminder of the challenge we face in confronting hunger and nutrition in the richest nation on earth. We play a critical role in contributing to the health and wellness of our nation’s future. The National School Lunch Program serves 31 million school children in more than 100,000 schools across the country. The School Breakfast Program is available in over 88,000 schools and about 11 million children participate on an average day.

This legislation can improve access by ensuring food programs reach children when and where they need it. The nutritional quality of school meals and the focus on health in schools is equally important. Children consume too many empty calories each day; we can promote more nutritious school meals through competitive grants and offer interim performance bonus programs for schools showing voluntary improvements.

The reauthorization proposal of an additional $10 billion over ten years is a significant opportunity for us to address hunger, obesity and nutrition in one stroke. We are committed to combating hunger and providing healthier foods to our nation’s future through modernized programs. Just as teachers inspire and parents encourage our children, we must embrace this opportunity to provide America’s children with the healthy foods they need to grow and learn.

- Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack 

Permalink  |  Posted: 01:12PM Nov 17, 2009 by USDAblogger in USDA Web Site  |  Add Your Comment Here [2]

Bellville School Recognized for Outstanding School Nutrition Environment

USDA Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services Kevin Concannon joined elementary school students in Bellville, Texas to award their schools “Gold” in USDA’s HealthierUS School Challenge for their outstanding achievements in improving their school nutrition environments.  Their schools, West End Elementary and O’Bryant Primary School along with O’Bryant Intermediate School, which earned gold last year, are Bellville’s three elementary schools and now all HealthierUS Schools.

April Pinkham, Bellville’s Director of School Nutrition said their schools took the Challenge because they wanted “recognition for their school nutrition program and school meals in general. “She said their school meals are “healthier than they’ve ever been” and she “takes pride in contributing to the health of our Nation’s school children.”

Bellville elementary schools partake in various physical activities to teach children about being physically active.  Last year they held a Nutrition Olympics where children had the opportunity to compete in watermelon weight lifting, coconut bowling and the grapefruit shot-put.  In partnership with Kelloggs, Bellville schools will reinstate last year’s Zumba dancing program for students to enjoy again this year. 

Permalink  |  Posted: 04:42PM Oct 15, 2009 by USDAblogger in USDA Web Site  |  Add Your Comment Here [1]

Secretary Vilsack Meets with Teachers, Parents, Kids in Knoxville for National School Lunch Week

Secretary Vilsack stopped in Knoxville, Iowa, at a Healthier US School Challenge Gold Award school on Monday of National School Lunch Week for a roundtable discussion with school administrators, local, state and federal nutrition program staff, teachers, parents and students representing three schools in the district about improving nutrition in schools and the upcoming Child Nutrition Reauthorization efforts.
 
“The first thing President Obama said to me when he offered me the job as Secretary was that he expected me to make sure our children were getting nutritious food in school,” Vilsack said.

 Vilsack heard from fifth grader Vicki Adrian that she’s interested in getting more whole grains into school meals, and high school students Jenna Harms and Kirk Gannon suggested that kids might balk at first about being offered healthier choices, but once they get used to the food, they’ll appreciate it.

 Miss Iowa, Anne Michael Langguth, was at the roundtable because one of her projects this year during her reign is to highlight healthy lifestyles. She impressed upon the Secretary that helping students understand why the schools are choosing healthier foods will make the changes easier to accept and appreciate.
 
Principals from Knoxville’s West, Northstar and East Elementary schools gave examples of how they were improving nutrition and physical activity in classes and how they would like to do more.   They remarked that several education efforts, such as the seatbelt campaign, had started with children and spread to adults, and the idea of making healthier food choices could follow that path.  Child Nutrition Administrators from the school district, state and federal levels contributed ideas about direct certification, lunch price changes, universal free breakfasts, and cross-program eligibility to help remove participation barriers.

 Two area chefs who have helped the Iowa Department of Education staff with Team Nutrition grant work were at the roundtable.  Benjamin Whitmore and Ephraim Malag,  President and Vice President of the Iowa chapter of the American Culinary Federation, suggested increased use of fresh produce from local farmers could help interest students in healthier meals. The chefs also offered a taste test for students and guests at lunchtime, featuring slices of an Apple Chicken Salad Wrap, starring Iowa apples, pumpkin seeds and edamame.
 
Students escorted their guests into the cafeteria after the roundtable for lunch, where they enjoyed baked chicken nuggets with whole grain coating, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, white cake with dried cherry sauce, and a selection of fresh fruits and vegetables at a “choice bar.”

Permalink  |  Posted: 05:33PM Oct 14, 2009 by USDAblogger in USDA Web Site  |  Add Your Comment Here [0]