Danielle Bock traveled to Washington, DC last month to find ways to better serve students in the Greeley-Evans School District.
For the past five and a half years, Bock has served as the district’s Director of Nutrition Services. Mr. Bock visited Washington in her late September and showed her the need to better educate her students about her diet, nutrition and its tremendous impact on overall human health. rice field.
Bock was one of more than 500 attendees at the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health held at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center on September 28.
“It was all about food and health and how food plays a role in disease prevention,” Bock said this week. was.”
As an active and passionate school nutrition expert, Bock’s name is based on endorsements from others in the field focused on hunger, health and nutrition, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and It was finally placed on a guest list created by other agencies.
Bock and her department are deeply concerned with food quality and the availability of good, healthy food for District 6 students and all individuals.
“Nutrition services have a value. That value is that food is a basic human right,” Bock told the District 6 Board of Education in August. “It’s not a privilege, and we see it as our responsibility to ensure that all students have access to healthy, nutritious food.”
Bock knew the White House meeting would take place this year, but wasn’t given a date until weeks in advance. Coincidentally, she had already made plans to be in Washington for another industry-related conference: the International Fresh Food Association, scheduled for Sept. 26-28.
Bock said she joined IFPA to learn how to bring more fruits and vegetables into schools. IFPA invited Bock to the event and covered her travel expenses. She made good use of her three-night stay in Washington.
Bock arrived in Washington on Sept. 26 and met with nutrition experts from other schools, representatives from the USDA and the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi before attending a White House meeting. All of this was related to her involvement with her IFPA.
The White House conference, part of the Biden administration’s national strategy on hunger, nutrition and health, was held for the first time in more than 50 years and included speakers and breakout sessions.
The breakout sessions are aligned with the five pillars of the national strategy, Bock said.
- Improve access and affordability of food.
- Integrate nutrition and health.
- Empower all consumers to make and access healthy choices.
- Supports all physical activity.When
- Strengthen nutrition and food security research.
“Over the past 50 years, we have learned more about nutrition and the role healthy eating plays in children’s performance in the classroom, and the link between nutrition and disease prevention,” said President Joe Biden. Strategy Begins on page 44. “This important meeting and our commitment to a national strategy to end hunger and eat healthier will truly help make America a stronger, healthier nation.” based on the research and knowledge we have now.”
Biden addressed the conference, and a list of other speakers included U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra, U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow, Mike Brown and Cory Booker, and New York City Mayor Eric It included Adams and chef Jose Andres. , known for his culinary and humanitarian work. Susan Rice, a former ambassador to the U.S. Council on Internal Affairs, moderated the conference.
Conference attendees came from a variety of backgrounds. Bock said he was the only six nutrition specialists at the school who attended, receiving benefits from doctors, other scientists and a supplemental nutrition assistance program (formerly known as food stamps). Advocates such as individuals were also included.
Among other participants were people working in urban areas, creating urban farms and using the space to help others learn how to cook and grow food and learn about diet-related illnesses. is teaching.
“How can we give people a bonus? How can we change the system when poor people suffer from diet-related illnesses because fruit is expensive?” Asked.
Bock left the conference with a greater determination and understanding of the importance of calculating meal times during daily school hours so that students will learn nutrition education more actively.
“You can feed your children healthy food, but what’s the point if you don’t teach them what they put in their bodies and how it affects them? she asked.
Proposition FF: “Must Pass”
This fall, voters in Colorado will have a say in school lunches with Proposition FF, a legislative mandate that allows voters to decide whether all school meals are once again free for all students. will have.
Proposition FF reduces the income tax credit for those earning $300,000 or more. The money will come from capping itemized and standard state income tax deductions to create and fund the Healthy School Lunches for All program. Participating districts can provide free meals to students and provide schools with local food purchase subsidies and school lunch-related funds, according to Ballotpedia.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, the USDA launched emergency measures with the Family First Coronavirus Response Act to allow students to eat free while school districts are closed. The waiver was extended for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years, but expired earlier this year. That meant lost federal funding for food program operators, including school districts.
Bock says Proposition FF isn’t the ideal solution to providing free meals to all students in Colorado, but if it passes, some school districts could operate with complex laws. A solution will be provided.
Bock worries that if the FF doesn’t do well on the ballot, state legislators will take it as a sign that school lunches are unpopular with voters and hesitant to enact future legislation.
“I have to pass,” said Bock. “It’s great that the public understands that meals should be part of a student’s day and not just another supplemental program in the district.”
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