Representative Sam Farr plans to introduce legislation that will increase United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) purchases of fresh fruits and vegetables for child nutrition programs. The bill will be called the Children’s Fruit and Vegetable Act, and Rep. Farr plans to introduce the bill on September 8, 2009.According to Tom Karst’s story for the Packer, Farr, who represents California’s 17th District, believes the extra purchases are needed because currently 50% of children are not eating the government recommended daily amount of fruits and vegetables. The proposal to get more fresh fruits and vegetables in school would be accomplished through federal commodity purchases, and would operate through existing school breakfast and lunch programs.
According to the Packer article, the USDA will be mandated to spend $50 million per year for five years on fresh produce for child feeding programs through the Commodity Credit Corporation. The bill will ask for additional new funding for feeding programs for children. Representative Farr’s office could not comment on how much the additional new funding would be for feeding programs, and thus the full costs of the legislation is not yet available.
To read the Packer article click here.
Posted: 08/25/09
