Healthy School Meals
A top policy priority for United Fresh is increasing children’s access to fresh fruit and vegetable in school meals and snacks. We strongly support USDA’s new nutrition standards for school lunch, breakfast and Smarts Snacks in Schools which increases the amount and variety of fruits and vegetables served daily to 32 million children at lunch and 11 million at breakfast.
In 2010, Congress passed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act – landmark legislation that required USDA to update and align nutrition standards for the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. With the goal of increasing student’s fruit and vegetable consumption, the new nutrition standards require schools to:
- Increase the variety fruits and vegetables served weekly
- Serve both a fruit and a vegetable at lunch daily
- Serve two servings of fruit at breakfast daily
- Ensure students select at least a ½ cup of a fruit or a vegetable at breakfast and lunch daily
As Congress has been embroiled in a battle over healthier school meals, fruits and vegetables have become a target, with efforts to repeal the requirement that students must select at least a ½ cup serving of a fruit or vegetable at breakfast and lunch daily.
In 2015, healthier school meals will be center stage as Congress reauthorizes all child nutrition programs. United Fresh is strongly committed to protecting the fruit and vegetable requirements. We are opposed to repealing the requirement that students select a ½ cup of fruits and vegetables at breakfast and lunch.