State Senator Martin M. Looney
August 24, 2009
School Children to Suffer from Gov. Rell’s Proposed Cuts to Healthy Meals Initiative
Democrats lament Gov. Rell’s decision to target school lunches instead of supporting progressive income tax on couples making at least $500,000 a year
New Haven — Children in more than 110 school districts and schools across Connecticut may soon be eating less nutritious school lunches as Governor Rell proposes to cut funding in half for the Healthy Food Program. The $2 million cut will force cash-strapped schools to find funding for the program or eliminate it, and replace fresh fruits and vegetables with less healthy food.
Senate Majority Leader Martin M. Looney (D-New Haven), Senator Toni N. Harp (D-New Haven), and Senator Edward Meyer (D-Guilford), joined community leaders today to call attention to the governor’s budget cuts.
“For many children, a balanced school lunch is the healthiest meal they will receive all day,” said Senator Looney. “In a time when many families are struggling to put food on the table, it makes no sense to target our school lunch programs.”
For participating school districts, the Healthy Food Program places limits on sugar, salt, and fat content in school meals, requires reasonable portion sizes, and encourages the consumption of more fruit, vegetables, and whole grains. As more nutritious meals are often more expensive, the program also provides monetary assistance to school districts. Democrats have reluctantly agreed to a 25 percent cut in funding but oppose the governor’s 50 percent cut that would threaten the overall viability of the Healthy Food Program.
“Serving nutritious meals in our schools is a great way to fight childhood obesity,” said Senator Meyer. “Good nutrition is the best kind of preventive medicine. It will help us save money on health care costs, and help our children to lead healthier lives.”
According to a 2009 report from the Trust for America’s Health, almost 60 percent of adults in Connecticut are obese or overweight. For many people, the health problems start during childhood: the report says that 12 percent of high school students in Connecticut are obese, and another 13 percent are overweight.
“No one disputes the serious health risks associated with careless eating and poor nutrition; we think students will be better off if public school food service programs lead by example to help them learn more about these matters at an early age,” Senator Harp said. “In short, I think eliminating a relatively inexpensive nutrition program that provides both healthy foods and good life lessons, while steadfastly opposing a relatively inexpensive income tax adjustment is shortsighted public policy.”
New Haven Mayor John DeStefano added, “New Haven, like most of Connecticut’s urban centers, have disproportionately higher numbers of children with obesity and nutrition challenges that benefit from healthy food choices and food education in our Public Schools. I urge the governor to maintain funding for healthy food certification and make the health of our children a priority.”
Connecticut has been a leader in encouraging schools to serve healthy food to their students. Senate President Donald E. Williams Jr. (D-Brooklyn) and the Senate Democrats championed a landmark school nutrition bill in 2006, which introduced the Healthy Food Program to help schools provide more nutritious meal choices. Since its inception, the number of schools participating in the program has increased by more than 25 percent.
- 2006-2007 = 89 school districts and schools
- 2007-2008 = 100 school districts and schools
- 2008-2009 = 114 school districts and schools participating, including 17 new ones. This is 62 percent of the eligible districts and schools.
“When we passed the junk food bill all those years ago, the governor vetoed it, but she got the message that parents, teachers, doctors — just about everybody but the soda companies — were offended. Now she's undermining our children's health by proposing a 50 percent cut to the Healthy Food Certification. More kids are getting free and reduced price meals — for some these are the only meals they get all day. Our kids should not be in the crosshairs of a budget battle when there are adequate resources the governor can look to for funding. Governor Rell, please don't be like Marie Antoinette and say, ‘Let them eat cake!’ It’s a disservice to our kids, their parents and our schools,” said Lucy Nolan, Executive Director of End Hunger Connecticut.
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