House Committee’s Draft Bill Could Reduce the Fresh Produce Served in Schools

The Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP) has been combating childhood obesity by providing low-income elementary school students free fresh fruits and vegetables in all 50 states since 2008. Despite evidence that the program has made significant positive impacts on the health of participating students, a draft bill in Congress could alter the program’s focus on fresh produce.
House Committee’s Draft Bill Could Reduce the Fresh Produce Served in Schools
According to the USDA, “The goal of the FFVP is to improve children’s overall diet and create healthier eating habits to impact their present and future health.” Childhood obesity is an apparent public health threat: according to the CDC, childhood obesity has more than doubled in children in the past 30 years, and in 2012 more than one third of children and adolescents were overweight or obese. So has the FFVP been effective thus far in addressing this issue?

A USDA evaluation showed significant evidence that the program has improved children’s attitudes about and consumption of fruits and vegetables inside and outside of school, and also concluded that participating schools provided substantially more nutrition education to its students than other schools. Furthermore, a study published in Applied Economics Perspectives and Policy in 2015 found that the FFVP program reduced student obesity rates from an average of 20 percent to 17 percent.

Now, the House Education and Workforce Committee’s draft of the Child Nutrition Authorization (CNR) bill would allow schools participating in the program to serve all forms of produce—rather than strictly fresh—welcoming in frozen, canned, and dehydrated fruits and vegetables as well as others. The draft explicitly states, “funds under this program may be used on all forms of fruits and vegetables and is no longer limited to only fresh fruits and vegetables.”
House Committee’s Draft Bill Could Reduce the Fresh Produce Served in Schools
The program as it currently stands is extremely popular with school administrators, teachers, students, and parents. However, the packaged food industry objects, stating that the program promotes the idea that only fresh fruits and vegetables are healthy. Large food processors and their lobbyists have continually fought for the “fresh” requirement to be removed and for their packaged and processed items to be part of the program, citing their affordability and availability. Lobbyists for fresh produce meanwhile argue that plenty of processed produce is still found in school lunches, regardless of the FFVP.

It’s unclear now whether or not the draft bill that would alter the FFVP will make it out of the committee, let alone pass through Congress. If it were to be passed, the vague wording would also need some clarification as to how it would be applied to participating schools. Time will tell if the packaged food lobbyists will succeed in eliminating the fresh requirement. In the meantime, students nationwide will continue to benefit from the fresh produce and nutrition information provided by the program.
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