GLICKMAN ANNOUNCES TEAM NUTRITION TRAINING GRANTS TO 19 STATES

                                              Release No. 0306.97

                                      Johna Pierce (202) 720-4623
                                                 jpierce@usda.gov
                                    Darlene Barnes (703) 305-2286
                                      darlene_barnes@fcs.usda.gov

GLICKMAN ANNOUNCES TEAM NUTRITION TRAINING GRANTS TO 19 STATES

     BALTIMORE, MD, Sept. 9, 1997- Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman today
announced the award of Team Nutrition training grants totaling more than $4
million to 19 states.  The grants will be used to train school food service
workers in making further improvements in school meals -- making food served
in the schools more nutritious and more appealing to children's tastes.

     Glickman made the announcement at the George McMechan School in
Baltimore, a middle and high school for students with special needs, where
he joined students, faculty, and staff for breakfast in the school
cafeteria.  The awards are part of a USDA Team Nutrition program that helps
states start or expand training and technical assistance activities for
school food service professionals to implement updated school meal nutrition
standards.

     "Our goal is to provide healthy school meals that kids will eat," said
Glickman.  "The benefits of establishing healthy diets and eating patterns
in America's young people will be realized as they enter adulthood and can
expect to live longer, healthier, more productive lives."

     "Having years of personal experience as head of a large school food
service district, I know how important these grants are in enabling states
to provide the staff training necessary to continuously improve school
meals," said Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services
Shirley Watkins.

     Team Nutrition is an ongoing education and training initiative that
supports USDA's School Meals Initiative for Healthy Children.  The
Initiative requires school meals to reflect the recommendations of the
Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which include consuming a variety of
foods; eating more grains, fruits, and vegetables; and limiting calories
from fat.

     This is the third consecutive year that USDA has awarded Team
Nutrition Training Grants.  This year's focus is integrating healthy school
meals into comprehensive school health programs.  In addition, for the first
time, states can now use their funding to provide local Team Nutrition
Training Grants to school districts so they can tailor training and
technical assistance to the specific needs of local schools.
                         

     States selected to receive the grants for 1997 are:

      Arizona        $162,780          New Jersey     $189,640
      California     $270,400          North Dakota   $ 77,144
      Illinois       $168,520          Oregon         $129,020
      Iowa           $299,000          Rhode Island   $299,886
      Kansas         $192,260          South Carolina $300,000
      Maine          $ 94,562          South Dakota   $299,886
      Maryland       $300,000          Utah           $275,520
      Michigan       $299,952          Vermont        $ 94,471
      Minnesota      $292,220          West Virginia  $155,803
      New Hampshire  $107,14

                                #

NOTE: USDA news releases and media advisories are available on the Internet.
Access the USDA Home Page on the World Wide Web at http://www.usda.gov