To Dew or not to Dew: Part I

Mountain Dew and all other sugary pop and foods of minimal nutritional value, that is. Testimony before the Senate Agriculture Committee on March 6 talked about"Child nutrition and the school setting" and there were some powerful witnesses arrayed in opposition to nutritionally poor food and beverages sold at school, in addition to well-spoken allies for greater presence of fruits and vegetables in schools.

On the same day - not coincidentally, I'm sure, Agriculture Committee chair Sen. Harkin, D-Iowa, introduced S. 771: A bill to amend the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to improve the nutrition and health of schoolchildren by updating the definition of "food of minimal nutritional value" to conform to current nutrition science and to protect the Federal investment in the national school lunch and breakfast programs.


You can link to the hearing page here. Here are a few highlights from the first panelist(more to follow):

Janey Thorton
President of School Nutrition Association
Hardin County School District, Kentucky

Thorton testifies:

SNA believes strongly the Secretary of Agriculture should have the authority to regulate the sale of food and beverages throughout the entire school, throughout the school day. We cannot have one set of ala carte standards in the cafeteria and another set of standards, or no standards, down the hall.

We need consistent standards in the school for two reasons: to promote wellness, but also to send a consistent nutrition education message to students. As every parent knows, if we tell our children one thing but they see us do something else, they’re going to follow our actions and ignore our words. Schools must also practice what they preach with the foods they sell. Therefore, we hope the Congress will move forward with this important legislation.


TK: Thorton also argues for standardization of nutrition guidelines within the cafeteria and an increase in federal reimbursement for school meals.