Title
Calling on the United States Congress to renew the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act and preserve Philadelphia's Universal School Meals Program.
Body
WHEREAS, In 1946, President Harry S. Truman signed the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act into law, which created a federal school lunch program devoted to protecting the health of children throughout the country; and
WHEREAS, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Child Nutrition Act into law in 1966, in part, to complement the existing school lunch program by creating a national school breakfast program; and
WHEREAS, These major pieces of legislation symbolized the importance of keeping children safe and adequately nourished with nutritious meals, along with other programs that followed such as the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC Program); and
WHEREAS, According to the Food Research and Action Center, the Child Nutrition Act is slated for reauthorization every five years and most recently, in 2004, the program increased the availability of nutritious food to after-school and child care programs, provided for simplified application processes, required higher nutritional quality for school meals and mandated that schools formulate local wellness policies; and
WHEREAS, Despite recent reforms and an increase in the variety of food programs, far too many children and families continue to live in hunger within the United States (U.S.); and
WHEREAS, In 2008, President Barack H. Obama announced a plan to combat domestic hunger by eliminating child hunger by 2015 through various anti-poverty and food assistance initiatives; and
WHEREAS, In Philadelphia one in three children rely on emergency food programs, according to the SHARE Food Program, Inc, who administers Pennsylvania's State Food Purchase Program and The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP); and
WHEREAS, 34 percent of children under the age of 18 in Philadelphia live below the federal poverty line, which is nearly double the national average; and
WHEREAS, The Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger estimates that approximately one in four City residents are food insecure, which indicates that these individuals experienced a reduced quality in their diet or disrupted eating patterns and reduced food intake; and
WHEREAS, Changes to the Child Nutrition Act would make significant progress towards the President's goal of ending child hunger by 2015, ensure that all children have access to high quality and nutritious foods, reduce obesity-related diseases, as well as support and expand local and regional farm and food economies; and
WHEREAS, Philadelphia City Council believes strongly that the reauthorization must also include several items which will result in reducing food insecurity and child hunger while also supporting the local economic; and
WHEREAS, The Council's priorities for the reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act includes at least the amount that President Obama requested, namely an additional $1 billion for each of the 10 years of the authorizing legislation; and
WHEREAS, The Council urges Congress to pass legislation allowing schools or school districts to use a survey-based or data-based method to efficiently and automatically qualify eligible, low income children for free school lunches and breakfast without use of paper applications which create obstacles, stigma and unnecessary costs to the Philadelphia School District; and
WHEREAS, The US Senate and House should authorize in the Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act with a provision that all current Universal Feeding programs in Philadelphia School District to remain in the program; and
WHEREAS, The SNAP-Ed nutritional education program is one of the largest, ongoing federal programs to support nutrition education among low-income residents and this program provides high quality nutrition education services to thousands of low-income children in Philadelphia, who face an increased risk of obesity and diet-related illnesses, reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act should not cap or cut off funding to this necessary program; and
WHEREAS, Through implementing these recommendations, the Child Nutrition Act will be able to fulfill its mission of ensuring that children have access to healthy and nutritious foods, while considering the needs of Philadelphia to protect some of its most vulnerable citizens; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, THAT THE COUNCIL OF THE PHILADELPHIA, Calls upon on the United States Congress to renew the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act and preserve Philadelphia's Universal School Meals Program
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