June 10/Washington -- The Grocery Manufacturers Association has issued the following statement by GMA president and CEO Pamela G. Bailey regarding introduction of the U.S. House of Representative’s child nutrition reauthorization bill, the Improving Nutrition for America’s Children Act by Chairman George Miller (D-CA) of the House Education and Labor Committee:  

“The Grocery Manufacturers Association strongly supports efforts to feed many more children through school lunch and breakfast programs and to increase the number of healthy choices in the cafeteria. We share chairman Miller's priorities for a stronger Child Nutrition Act, including increased access to the school meals programs, science-based standards for foods sold in schools, and more healthy foods available in the cafeteria.

“In particular, we believe that Congress should give USDA clear authority to set science-based standards for foods sold in schools during the school day. The school environment is a special environment, and USDA should be given the power to establish nutrition standards for competitive foods. We believe that the school cafeteria line can be on the front lines of feeding children while ending childhood obesity within a generation.  We look forward to working with chairman Miller and the committee on these provisions.”

From the June 11, 2010, Prepared Foods' Daily News
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