[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 3]
[EX]
[Page 3271]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




      SUPPORTING NATIONAL SCHOOL BREAKFAST WEEK (MARCH 5-9, 2012)

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                           HON. RUSH D. HOLT

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 8, 2012

  Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of National School 
Breakfast Week which this year is March 5th through 9th. I thank the 
School Nutrition Association for their efforts to promote this 
important week and raise awareness for the need to ensure our school 
children have a healthy breakfast to start their days.
  Research has shown that eating a nutritious, balanced breakfast helps 
kids focus and succeed in school. I believe that the federal government 
has an important role to play in promoting nutrition, as well as 
preventing and treating obesity. And during these tough economic times, 
the school breakfast program also is seeing increasing demand from 
students who are coming to school hungry.
  Currently, there are more than 31 million children who eat school 
meals five days a week, 180 days a year. While the National School 
Lunch and breakfast programs do a good job of feeding these children, 
they have the potential to provide fresher and healthier foods to 
millions of children in the United States.
  In 2010 I helped write the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act to 
dramatically expand access for millions of children to healthy meals 
year-round in schools, and provide more meals for at risk children 
nationwide. The law included legislation that I introduced to provide 
$5 million in annual funding for Farm to School programs. Farm to 
School programs bring locally or regionally grown fresh produce into 
schools, significantly improving nutrition for children eating school 
lunches.
  During School Breakfast Week, let us resolve to do everything we can 
to combat childhood hunger and also ensure that the food we are serving 
kids is as fresh and healthy as possible.

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