[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 37 (Wednesday, March 7, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E332]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               CELEBRATING NATIONAL SCHOOL BREAKFAST WEEK

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                            HON. GWEN MOORE

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, March 7, 2012

  Ms. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise to join my colleagues in 
celebrating National School Breakfast Week 2012.
  I don't have to tell anyone that 2011 was another year of difficult 
economic struggles for American households. Too many families are 
struggling to put food on the table. And when they do, kids suffer the 
most.
  According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in 2010, 48.8 
million Americans lived in households that had difficulty putting food 
on the table. That figure includes as many as 16 million children 
living in a home where food is not always available. Even worse, in 
over 380,000 households, one or more children did not get enough to 
eat--they had to cut the size of their meals, skip meals, or even go 
whole days without food at some time during the year.
  When asked by the Gallup organization in a recent food hardship 
survey, ``Have there been times in the last twelve months when you did 
not have enough money to buy food that you or your family needed?'' 
more people answered ``Yes'' in the last six months of 2011 than in any 
period since the fourth quarter of 2008.
  In broad swaths of the country, more than one in six households 
answered the Gallup question ``Yes.'' In fact, at least one in six said 
``Yes'' in more than half of all Congressional districts (269 of 436 
congressional districts.) In my district, according to the survey, the 
food hardship rate is 23 percent, almost one in four households. That 
is heartbreaking and even more so when you think that nearly 80 of my 
colleagues represent districts with even higher rates.
  Thirty-seven million people--one in eight Americans--receive 
emergency food assistance each year through the Nation's food banks, a 
46 percent increase in clients served from 2006.
  As a result, public efforts to help meet this basic need are even 
more important. As the recession's grip takes firm hold, for millions 
of vulnerable children around our Nation, federally-supported school 
breakfast programs continue to be a lifeline.
  The School Breakfast program began in 1966 as a two-year pilot 
program. It has become a valuable program that makes a difference every 
day in the lives of millions of children. I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, 
that providing availability, accessibility, and participation in the 
school breakfast program are some of the best ways to support the 
health and educational potential of children, particularly low-income 
children.
  Eating breakfast has been shown to improve math, reading, and 
standardized test scores. Breakfast helps children pay attention, 
perform problem-solving tasks, and improves memory. Children who eat 
school breakfast are likely to have fewer absences and incidents of 
tardiness than those who do not. By eating breakfast, students get more 
important nutrients, vitamins and minerals such as calcium, dietary 
fiber, and protein. These are just a few of the known benefits.
  The School Breakfast Program can readily be tailored to meet the 
needs of all different age groups, school schedules and physical 
environments. Schools use many creative service options in addition to 
traditional breakfast service in the cafeteria, such as Breakfast in 
the Classroom, Grab `n' Go Carts and Mid-morning Nutrition Breaks.
  This year, the School Breakfast Week theme is ``School Breakfast--Go 
for the Gold,'' highlighting how eating a balanced breakfast at school 
can help students shine. In FY 2011 over 12 million children were able 
to get a nutritious school meal because of this program. In my State of 
Wisconsin, school breakfast participation rates have increased from 
135,000 in FY 2009 to 166,000 in FY 2011, the vast majority receiving 
free or reduced price nutritious breakfast to jump start their school 
day. However, participation in the breakfast comparison lags compared 
to the approximately 32 million who participate in the National School 
Lunch Program.
  Most school breakfast program students lived in impoverished families 
and received free or reduced price meals. For the 2009 2010 school 
year, to receive a free breakfast, the student needed to reside in a 
household earning $23,803 or less for a family of three (130 percent of 
the federal poverty level). For reduced price, the threshold was 
$33,874 (185 percent of the federal poverty level.)
  Efforts to make this program work better continue and they should. 
Last month, the Administration released new child nutrition rules--as 
required by Congress in the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010--that 
seek to make the same kind of changes many parents are already trying 
to teach their children at home. The new rule updates school meal 
standards to increase fruits, vegetables, whole grain, and low-fat 
dairy while reducing fats, sodium and sugars. This is a long overdue 
step that will get healthier foods on school plates each day. USDA 
built the new rule around recommendations from an Institute of Medicine 
expert panel, updated with key changes from the 2010 Dietary 
Guidelines. Getting the science right is critical to better nutrition 
and health for our children.
  Additionally, the President's FY 2013 budget request includes $35 
million for school meal equipment grants to help school districts 
purchase the equipment needed to serve healthier meals, and improved 
food safety. These equipment grants would support the establishment or 
expansion of the School Breakfast Program. Lack of adequate kitchen 
equipment has been cited as a reason why schools are not able to 
initiate or expand their breakfast programs. Congress needs to support 
such initiatives.
  In the spirit of National Breakfast Week, I would encourage my 
colleagues--and in fact, all Americans--to participate in activities 
like the Share Your Breakfast campaign to combat child hunger. The 
Share Your Breakfast campaign--which brings together Action for Healthy 
Kids, the Kellogg Company, and other partners--is focused on ensuring 
more kids have access to breakfast by increasing participation in 
school breakfast programs. This campaign is only in its second year, 
but has already offered assistance to nearly 100 schools in 26 states.
  This year's goal is to provide one million breakfasts to American 
school children who might otherwise go without. Programs like Share 
Your Breakfast are to be commended and help highlight the vital role 
that a nutritious breakfast plays in promoting educational success.
  Mr. Speaker, a growing number of Americans are going hungry and 
federal safety-net nutrition programs, like the School Breakfast 
Program, are playing a crucial role in helping hardworking families, 
including their children, stay nourished.
  Let me conclude, Mr. Speaker, by saying that though our country is in 
the midst of a tough economic time, I hope there remains bipartisan 
support for this simple statement: no child in our community or across 
the country should ever go through the school day hungry. The School 
Breakfast Program is critical to making that a reality.
  I am pleased to join my colleagues in highlighting the value and 
success of this program and those who work every day to make sure that 
our future leaders, our future engineers, and scientists, and 
politicians or whatever else boys and girls across our Nation want to 
be, won't be stopped because of a growling stomach and nagging hunger.

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