[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 70 (Tuesday, May 11, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3541-S3542]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. DURBIN:
  S. 3342. A bill to amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 
Act to establish a demonstration project to promote collaborations to 
improve school nutrition; to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, 
and Forestry.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, childhood obesity is a growing concern in 
the U.S. and I am pleased that the President and First Lady have 
decided to tackle this issue with the goal of solving the problem in a 
generation. Today, one in three children is overweight or obese, which 
means that they are at a greater risk of developing diabetes, heart 
disease and cancer over the course of their lives. We are spending 
nearly $150 billion a year to treat obesity-related medical conditions, 
and this problem will only become worse if we don't do something about 
it now.
  One way that the Federal Government can play an important role in 
addressing this problem is by helping to make schools healthier. 
Students spend an average of nearly 7 hours a day at school, and it is 
one of the places where kids formally learn and then can practice 
healthy habits related to nutrition and physical activity. While 
education is primarily funded by the states, the Federal government 
plays a significant role in this issue as well because of its funding 
of the National School Lunch Program. This year, the U.S. Department of 
Agriculture, USDA, will spend $10.2 billion on the school lunch 
program, which serves 31 million children across the country every day. 
In my home State of Illinois, 1.1 million students in over 4,000 
schools participate.
  The National School Lunch Program was started after World War II, 
because our leaders then understood the importance of investing in good 
nutrition to ensure that the country's youth were well nourished and 
healthy. When President Harry Truman signed the National School Lunch 
Act, he said that ``in the long view, no nation is healthier than its 
children.''
  Today, we know that the program is making a real difference in 
millions of kids' lives, by ensuring they don't go hungry during the 
school day and are ready to learn. We also know that there are some 
clear nutritional benefits of the program. USDA reports that research 
on the school lunches consistently shows that participants consume more 
milk and vegetables at lunch; have higher vitamin intakes; and consume 
fewer sweets, sweetened beverages, and snack foods than 
nonparticipants.
  However, much of the difference in vegetable consumption may be due 
to a higher consumption of French fries and other potato products, and 
many lunches contain a higher percentage of calories from fat than 
currently recommended. USDA's current nutrition

[[Page S3542]]

standards for school meals have not been updated since 1995 and are not 
in line with the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans. I think 
we need to take President Truman's words to heart, and make long-term 
investments in this program to ensure that kids are eating healthy 
meals.
  I support the President's goal of increased funding, so that schools 
can afford to purchase healthier ingredients to make school lunches. 
However I know that the nutritional quality of school meals varies 
greatly across the country, and providing every school with adequate 
funding to improve their meals will be challenging. Some schools have 
already shown that even with limited resources they can make real 
improvements in the nutritional quality of their school meals, and make 
other changes to make school environments healthier.
  I would like to build on that concept, which is why I am pleased 
today to introduce the Healthy School Partnerships Act of 2010. This 
bill will create a competitive grant program at USDA to allow public 
schools to explore innovative, sustainable programs that improve the 
nutritional profile of school meals and make other improvements to make 
school environments healthier. The bill authorizes $2 million per year 
for 5 years to fund collaborations of academic experts, dieticians and 
nutrition professionals, community partners, and local schools to 
implement and evaluate innovative models to improve food quality, 
student choices in food, and healthy school environments. This could 
include starting programs to improve the nutritional content of school 
meals; providing more nutrition education; changing school policies to 
promote greater access to healthier foods and physical activity; 
training teachers, school administrators and nurses; or making other 
changes to make school environments healthier. We need grass roots 
involvement and real-world models to solve the childhood obesity 
problem going forward, and this bill provides the funding to develop 
those.
  Childhood obesity is a complex problem, and to effectively tackle it 
we will need the commitment of the public and private sectors. The 
Healthy Schools Partnerships Act of is one part of the solution. By 
tapping local resources and expertise, we can promote collaborations 
and develop sustainable and replicable models for making systemic 
changes that promote good nutrition and healthy living among students.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 3342

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Healthy Schools Partnerships 
     Act of 2010''.

     SEC. 2. HEALTHY SCHOOLS PARTNERSHIPS DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM.

       Section 18 of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 
     Act (42 U.S.C. 1769) is amended by adding at the end the 
     following:
       ``(j) Healthy Schools Partnerships Demonstration Program.--
       ``(1) Definition of eligible entity.--In this section, the 
     term `eligible entity' means a school food authority that 
     demonstrates that the school food authority has collaborated, 
     or will collaborate, with 1 or more local partner 
     organizations (including academic experts, registered 
     dietitians or other nutrition professionals, community 
     partners, or non-profit organizations) to achieve the 
     purposes described in paragraph (2).
       ``(2) Purposes.--The purposes of the demonstration project 
     established under this subsection are--
       ``(A) to assist schools in improving the nutritional 
     standards of school meals and the overall school environment; 
     and
       ``(B) to use local resources and expertise to promote 
     collaborations and develop sustainable and replicable models 
     for making systemic changes that promote good nutrition and 
     healthy living among students.
       ``(3) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish a 
     demonstration project under which the Secretary shall make 
     grants to eligible entities to fund collaborations of 
     academic experts, nonprofit organizations, registered 
     dietitians or other nutrition professionals, community 
     partners, and local schools to test and evaluate innovative 
     models to improve nutrition education, student decision 
     making, and healthy school environments.
       ``(4) Application.--
       ``(A) In general.--An eligible entity shall submit to the 
     Secretary an application at such time, in such manner, and 
     containing such information as the Secretary may require.
       ``(B) Contents.--In addition to any other requirements of 
     the Secretary, each application shall--
       ``(i) identify the 1 or more problems that the eligible 
     entity will address;
       ``(ii) identify the activity that the grant will be used to 
     fund;
       ``(iii) describe the means by which the activity will 
     improve the health and nutrition of the school environment;
       ``(iv) list the partner organizations that will participate 
     in the activity funded by the grant; and
       ``(v) describe the metrics used to measure success in 
     achieving the stated goals.
       ``(5) Priority.--In making grants under this subsection, 
     the Secretary shall give priority to eligible entities that 
     demonstrate--
       ``(A) a severe need to improve the school environment, as 
     demonstrated by high numbers of students receiving free or 
     reduced price lunches, high levels of obesity or other 
     indicators of poor health status, and health disparities in 
     the community served by the school;
       ``(B) a commitment by community partners to make in-kind or 
     cash contributions; and
       ``(C) the ability to measure results.
       ``(6) Use of funds.--An eligible entity shall use a grant 
     received under this subsection--
       ``(A) to assess the problem of childhood obesity and poor 
     nutrition in the school environment;
       ``(B) to develop an innovative plan or intervention to 
     address specific causes of the problem in coordination with 
     outside partners, including by developing and testing 
     innovative models to improve student health and nutrition as 
     measured by--
       ``(i) changes that result in healthier school environments, 
     including more nutritious food being served in cafeterias and 
     available a la carte;
       ``(ii) increased nutrition education;
       ``(iii) improved ability of students to identify healthier 
     choices;
       ``(iv) changes in attitudes of students towards healthier 
     food;
       ``(v) student involvement in making school environments 
     healthier;
       ``(vi) increased access to physical activity, physical 
     education, and recess;
       ``(vii) professional development and continuing education 
     opportunities for school administrators, teachers, and school 
     nurses; and
       ``(viii) changes in school policies that promote access to 
     healthier food and physical activity;
       ``(C) to implement the plan or intervention in partnership 
     with outside partners;
       ``(D) to measure and evaluate effectiveness of the 
     intervention; or
       ``(E) to assess the sustainability and replicability of 
     this model.
       ``(7) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized 
     to be appropriated to carry out this subsection $2,000,000 
     for each of fiscal years 2011 through 2015.''.

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