House bill would add breakfast commodity support

A bill calling for an additional six cents in commodity support for every breakfast served in schools participating in the National School Breakfast Program was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Congressmen Jim McGovern, D-Mass., and Rodney Davis, R-Ill. The bipartisan H.R. 3738, dubbed the Healthy Breakfasts Help Kids Learn Act (HBHKLA) of 2017, has been endorsed by the School Nutrition Association (SNA), which noted the legislation would allow more students to benefit from a nutritious school breakfast while enjoying a wider variety of American-grown foods.

The USDA Foods program that supplies schools with 100 percent American-grown foods to serve within school meals currently bases its allotment only on the number of school lunches served. HBHKLA would provide schools the additional six cents funding based on breakfasts served, reducing schools’ food expenditures and helping them manage rising costs so they can invest limited foodservice dollars into expanding breakfast programs and improving menus for students.

“Every student should have the opportunity to fuel their day with a nutritious school breakfast,” commented SNA President Lynn Harvey, Ed.D., RDN, LDN, FAND, SNS, in a release announcing the bill’s introduction. “With USDA Foods support, school nutrition professionals can expand innovative breakfast in the classroom or grab and go programs, proven to increase breakfast consumption. The Healthy Breakfasts Help Kids Learn Act will support student achievement, strengthen school meal programs and expand markets for America’s farmers.”