Free school lunches, yes, but how else to end hunger
By Clare Brock / Special To The Washington Post
The White House is holding a Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health this week, the first in more than 50 years. Biden announced the conference in May, giving the administration just three months to plan the event. Hopes are high, despite the short notice. Rep. James McGovern, D-Mass., one of the leading organizers, announced that the conference aims to end hunger in America by 2030.
President Richard M. Nixon hosted the last White House Conference on Food, Nutrition and Health, in 1969. The final report from that event contained more than 1,800 recommendations and helped launch pivotal federal programs, including major expansions of the Food Stamp program and the National School Lunch Program, and authorization of the Supplemental Feeding Program for Women Infants and Children (WIC).
Food and nutrition questions are high on the congressional agenda
Can we expect a similar outcome from this years conference? This historic event will occur while members of Congress are ramping up for the 2023 Farm Bill. Every five years, this legislation lays out the federal governments primary agriculture, conservation and food policy priorities. As the White House held listening sessions about the conference with a variety of stakeholders, representatives and staff have been holding similar sessions nationwide in preparation for drafting the legislation.
Congressional listening sessions are separate from the White House sessions, and more oriented around constituency concerns and agricultural challenges. For instance, Sen. Michael F. Bennet, D-Colo., and staff are holding sessions in Colorado, which is facing a record drought. This means that lawmakers may not be hearing from the same groups or addressing the same issues as the White House; though the Farm Bill is likely to include suggestions coming out of the conference.
https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/comment-free-school-lunches-yes-but-how-else-to-end-hunger/
Dysfunctional
(452 posts)Our lunch room did not have a cashier, because students did not pay for their lunches. That is because our parents paid a property tax high enough so we didn't have to. Yes, renters paid property taxes as part of their rent. Our parents also did not have to pay extra for anything except gym uniforms and slide rules. All sporting events were free for everyone.