Sharing: Healthy Schools Act Amendment 2017: Community Action Guide

[jeremiah lowery]

Dear Community Members:

Tomorrow is the hearing for the Healthy Students Amendment Act.

What does this bill do?

The Healthy Schools Act Amendment 2017 proposed three areas to amend the current Healthy Schools Act that will help improve school food nutrition, health & wellness in Washington, DC:

• It invests in healthier, higher quality childhood nutrition by adding an annual subsidy for schools implementing breakfast in the classroom and gives schools more options on how to serve breakfast, taking steps towards creating a central kitchen facility for local food production, and requiring the development of strategies to increase participation in the DC Free Summer Meals Program;
  
• It establishes new guidelines around nutrition and physical activity, including requirements pertaining to sodium, milk, whole grains, vegetarian meals, and snacks distributed at school while changing physical education from a requirement to a goal, and would require schools not meeting the requirement to develop an action plan to meet the standard;
  
• It requires DC Public Schools to engage with the Good Food Purchasing Program – a national set of food procurement standards pertaining to local sourcing, labor standards, animal welfare, nutrition, and environmental sustainability – to conduct a baseline assessment and develop strategies to increase purchases that meet these standards;
  
• It expands and changes the format for providing grants to schools to be more equitable. Previously, the capacity of schools to apply for and get grants varies widely, by offering both competitive and more directed grants, OSSE will be able to reach more schools, more students, and allocate funds more equitably.
  

To learn more visit: https://dcfoodpolicy.org/2017/10/23/action-alert-healthy-students-amendment-act-of-2017/ or feel free to contact me directly if you have any thoughts or need help understanding the legislation. 

Jeremiah 

DC Food Policy Council Member

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Jeremiah Lowery

At-Large DC Council Candidate

June 19th 2018, Democratic Primary  

jeremiah2018.com

(202) 643-4573

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