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Spotlight: BIC Breakfast BunchD.C. Healthy Schools Act
In May 2010, the D.C. Council passed the Healthy Schools Act, a landmark law designed to improve the health and wellness of students attending D.C. public and public charter schools. The Act took effect August 2010.
This website will introduce you to specific components of the act and resources to get your local schools involved.
LATEST NEWS
Farm to School Program Grants Available
USDA Food and Nutrition Services announces funding for farm to school programs specifically focused on getting local foods incorporated into school meals and improving nutrition and physical activity available for all schools, non profits and other organizations. Letters of Intent are due May 18 and applications for funding due June 15. Find more information and download an application, here.
3rd Annual Strawberries & Green Salad Day - May 23rd
Over 200 Washington, DC schools will feature fresh strawberries and salad greens in their school lunches - all from local farms! The D.C. Farm to School Network is helping 50 schools set up hands-on educational tables in their cafeterias to remind students where food comes from. Learn more about the event and get your school on board at www.strawberries-salad.blogspot.com. If you are interested in volunteering to help engage students at “Where Food Comes From” tables in school cafeterias during the event - learn more here.
DC Physical Activity for Youth (DC PAY) Grant Funding Available
OSSE division of Wellness and Nutrition Services is accepting applications for grants up to $10,000 to increase the capacity of DC schools to provide physical activity to all students before, during, or after the school day. DC public schools and public charter schools and organizations participating in the Healthy Schools Act are eligible to apply. Applications due April 17, 2012. Apply here.
What does the Healthy Schools Act do?
The Act tackles two major problems in the District of Columbia - childhood obesity and childhood hunger. It positions the District to become a national leader on health and wellness in schools. It also works to improve the school environment by greening D.C. schools.
These are highlights of what the Act does for District children:
- Improve nutrition by requiring healthier school meals with more fruits, vegetables, and whole-grains for school meals and healthier options for foods sold outside the cafeteria (such as in school stores and vending machines).
- Expand access to school meals, so that no child goes hungry, by providing free breakfast for all students, incorporating breakfast into the school day, and making lunch free for students who used to pay a reduced price.
- Encourage Farm to School programs to help students learn about and experience fresh, locally-grown foods in their classrooms and in their school meals.
- Provide more physical activity opportunities to help students get moving throughout the school day and develop lifelong healthy habits.
- Provide more health education to help students learn about nutrition, safety, and overall personal health.
- Create greener schools by encouraging school gardens, recycling programs, and energy-reduction initiatives, and testing for safe water/building materials.
See how the Healthy Schools Act is working! As required by the Act, in September 2011, OSSE submitted its first annual report to D.C. Council on schools’ compliance with the Act’s requirements. Read more here.
Why does the Healthy Schools Act matter?
Children in the District of Columbia are at risk of serious health problems stemming from hunger, poor nutrition, inadequate physical activity, and environmental degradation in our community. Meanwhile, poor nutrition and lack of physical activity are the second leading cause of preventable death in D.C.
These statistics give a snapshot of the issues that the Act helps to address:
- 40.6% of households with children reported that in 2009 they were unable to afford enough food in the last year.
- 43% of all D.C. school-age children are obese or overweight.
- 81% of children do not get the USDA-recommended 5 fruits and vegetables a day.
- Only about 30% of District children do the CDC-recommended 60 minutes of physical activity per day.
- Estimated annual health care costs associated with obesity in D.C. are $372 million and rising.
Congratulations to D.C. for passing this Act, which also provides a national model of what local governments and schools can do to end childhood hunger by requiring:
- Free Breakfast so that every child can access the most important meal of the day without stigma
- Improved access to breakfast by serving breakfast when and where students can eat it through models like breakfast in the classroom or grab and go carts
- Elimination of the family’s co-payment for reduced-price for lunch so that thousands of more children can eat school lunch for free
- Improved school meals so that children can benefit from even more healthy and appealing school meals.
Learn more about the history of the Act, access the actual text of the Act, and check out media coverage, at Councilmember Mary Cheh’s website. And see revisions made via the Healthy Schools Amendment Act of 2011 here.
Act now to ensure the health and well-being of Washington, DC children! Let’s put the Act in action!
Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Mid-Atlantic States