WASHINGTON, March 21, 2014 – A new report from
the Kids’
Safe and Healthful Foods Project shows 86 percent of schools are serving
lunches that meet federal nutrition standards – but many will need better kitchen
equipment to continue their work.
The project, a collaboration of the Pew
Charitable Trusts and the Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation, found that 88 percent of the school food authorities surveyed
reported needing one or more pieces of equipment to help them meet today’s
school lunch standards. More than half said they need kitchen infrastructure
changes at one or more schools to meet the requirements.
“Although a vast majority of schools want to serve healthier
meals…many were [making do] with work-arounds that were unsustainable and
unhealthy,” Jessica Donze Black, director of the project, told reporters during
a media call Thursday.
The report found that schools struggle most with adding
fresh fruits and vegetables to their daily menus. About a quarter to a third of
school food authorities said the equipment in their kitchens “is inadequate” to
make federally required changes, according to the project.
Donze Black said some authorities had to increase the number
of produce shipments per week, for example, because they did not have the
refrigerator room to accommodate the fruits and vegetables needed to meet
federal standards. More shipments often mean authorities must shell out more
money for produce.
According to the report, the necessary upgrades won’t be
cheap. Authorities reported they would need an average $68,700 per school. That
adds up to just under $1 billion nationwide.
But USDA says it’s working on obtaining the funds to allow
schools to make equipment upgrades.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told reporters today that
USDA would also make available $25 million later this spring for that purpose.
In addition, President Barack Obama’s proposed budget,
released earlier this month, asks Congress for $35 million in school equipment
grants “to aid in the provision of healthy meals.”
Vilsack also announced that department would make available
$40 million in grants to conduct and evaluate demonstration projects aimed at
ending childhood hunger.
The grants, furnished through 2010’s Healthy Hunger-Free
Kids Act (HHFK), could be used to address school lunch nutrition, but could
also enhance Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for
households with children, fund afterschool snack programs, or create emergency
housing options for in-need families.
#30
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