Improving the School Nutrition Environment.... Legislation, Policies and School Gardens

Consultant to Steele County Public Health: SHIP - School Site Intervention

Health Care Reform legislation in 2008:Help Minnesotans live longer, healthier,

better lives by preventing risk factors that lead to chronic disease.

Reducing the percentage of Minnesotans who use or are exposed to tobacco.

Reducing the percentage of Minnesotans who are obese or overweight through better nutrition and increased physical activity.

Steele County SHIP projects

4 sites targeted for health improvement.....

• Healthcare

• Worksites

• Community

• Schools

HealthCare.....

• Develop relationships among health care providers and community leaders and build partnerships to facilitate active referral of patients to local resources that;– Increase access to high quality nutritious

foods– Opportunities for physical activity– Tobacco use cessation

Community......

• Implement policies and practices that create active communities by

– Increasing opportunities for non-motorized transportation

– Access to community recreation facilities

Worksite......

• Implement a comprehensive employee wellness initiative that provides:– Health assessment with follow-up coaching– Ongoing health education– Policies and environment supports that

promote healthy weight and healthy behaviors

Improve the school nutrition environment.......

• Implement comprehesive nutrition policies including;

Breakfast promotion Healthy lunch & snack, including classroom

celebrations and incentives, fundraising, concessions, &

vending School gardens Farm-to-School initiatives

School Lunch Act:School Lunch Act:Federal LegislationFederal Legislation

The National School Lunch Act was passed in 1946

as a measure to “secure the well-being and

health of children as well as to encourage

consumption of local food.”

Under President Harry Truman

School Lunch Programs: USA 1900-1960

• to help dispose of surplus agricultural commodities owned by the government as a result of price-support agreement with farmers

• help prevent nutritional deficiencies among low-income schoolchildren

• Origins were related to national security - malnourished soldiers

QuickTime™ and a decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

foodmuseum.com

Program Expansion & Changes

• 1946 National School Lunch Program• 1966 School Breakfast Program pilot (1971 permanent)• 1980’s for spending (equipment)• 1995 - dietary guidelines to reduce fat, saturated fat, cholesterol,

and sugar• 1998: School Wellness Policy requirement enacted• 2002 Fresh Fruit & Vegetable program• 2004 WIC reauthorization - required schools to have wellness

policies• 2006: Wellness Policies “in place”• 2009 - Institute of Medicine recommendations..........

Eat Well Nutrition Therapy (Lkaupa)

October 2009 Institute of Medicine report to USDA...

• Increase the amount and variety of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains

• Set a minimum and maximum level of calories

• Focus more on reducing saturated fat and sodium

QuickTime™ and a decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2009/School-Meals-Building-Blocks-for-Healthy-Children.aspx

For Immediate Release December 13, 2010 President Obama Signs

Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 Into Law

Legislation.

Legislation: Child Nutrition and Reauthorization Act

• Increases access to school meals to the most at-risk (streamlining paperwork/documentation)

• Increases program monitoring and integrity

• 1st meal reimbursement rate increase in over 30 years (for schools that meet updated nutrition standards)

• USDA authorized to set nutrition standards for foods sold during the school day (meals, ala carte, and school stores)

• Sets basic standards for school wellness policies• Helps communities establish farm to school networks,

create school gardens, ensures that more local foods are used in the school setting

• Breastfeeding support through WIC expanded

Why gardens?

• Eating 5 or more servings of fruit and vegetables a day is linked to less cancer, heart disease, obesity, hypertension, gastrointestinal disorders

• Only 10% of children in Minnesota consume “5-A-Day”

U.S. production of vegetables is 1/2 of what is recommended for consumption

• To meet needs of dark green/orange/legumes = 70% increase in production

• American Journal of Preventive Medicine Volume 38, Issue 5, Pages 472-477, May 2010

U.S needs to double fruit production to meet the

2010 U.S. Dietary Guidelines

American Journal of Preventive Medicine Volume 38, Issue 5, Pages 472-477, May 2010

2008 Farm Bill: Richard B. Russell National School

Lunch Act • Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to:

– Encourage participating institutions* – to purchase unprocessed, locally grown

and locally raised agricultural products– “optional geographic preference”

– 7 CFR Parts 210, 215, 220, 225, and 226– RIN 0584 ﾐ AE03

Owatonna School Garden Project:

Growing a Healthy Community:Our Living, Learning Laboratory

Where are the gardens?

• 4 (of 4) Elementary schools

• Junior High School• Assistance from High

School Ag Class• Compost bins and

garden sheds are a project for the High School Tech Class

Gardening Activities are embedded in science curriculum

• 16 feet by 40 feet raised beds

• Organic gardening principles

• Each school site (with student involvement) will determine what they will grow

State Science StandardsoKindergarten: living organisms/basic organisms

o 1st grade: life cycle (seed to plant to fruit)

o 2nd grade: botany /history and nature of science standard

o 3rd grade: plant identification/life cycle

o 4th grade: water cycle/engineering

o 5th grade: renewable energy & material (composting)/ life science/ interactions among science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and society standard (sustainable agriculture)

o 7th & 8th grades: Life Science – botany unit/human body/ human diseases/ environmental studies/engineering

9-12th: plant systems/environmental systems/agribusiness/engineering

May - August 2010.....

• 1/2 the children involved in the garden were unable to identify a vegetable• When tending the garden in May & early June, the strawberry patch was a

favorite spot• August: neighborhood teenage boys harvested ingredients to make salsa

at home• Throughout the season, all students involved in gardening tasted the

produce.

Funding was made possible through funding from the Statewide Health Improvement Program (SHIP) of the Minnesota Department of Health.

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Alternative ‘finger foods’

Schools are working on improvements....

• 95% offer more whole grains

• 90% have more fresh fruit/vegetables

• 69% reduced sodium• 66% reduce or limit

added sugars• 51% increased

vegetable options

Dietary studies reflect......

• 70% of foods children consumed over a 24 hour period, considered for “occasional consumption”

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

fruit/veg grains proteinfats sweets

{70%}