Congressman Rick Larsen's Online Office

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02) released the following statement on legislation introduced by Chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee George Miller, the Improving Nutrition for America’s Children Act, which includes a proposal he authored to fight childhood hunger.  A provision of the bill is modeled after Larsen’s Ensuring All Students Year-round (EASY) Access to Meals and Snacks Act (HR 4274), which will help low-income kids access nutritious food after school and during the summer months, with implementation in 10 states selected by the Secretary of Agriculture. This proposal was endorsed by many Washington state organizations, which are listed below.

“I commend Chairman Miller for writing a strong, comprehensive child nutrition bill.  Our country has a moral obligation to make sure all kids get enough to eat every day and this bill is an important step towards achieving the President’s goal of eliminating childhood hunger by 2015.

“Nearly one in six families in my Congressional District suffers from hunger. In these tough economic times, too many hardworking families are still struggling to put food on the table. It is critical that we are making sure kids get enough to eat so they can perform better in school and avoid serious health problems down the road.

“I am pleased that the legislation includes my proposal to help local non-profits and local government organizations, like Boys and Girls Clubs and city Parks Departments, serve healthy meals to low-income children 365 days a year.  By helping these local organizations cut through red tape, we will ensure low-income kids get nutritious food at the times when they are most vulnerable to hunger— during the summer, after school, and on weekends.

“This legislation will help combat our nation’s obesity epidemic by creating new nutritional standards for food served in schools and strengthening support for healthy school meals.

“I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass this critical legislation this year.”

The following Washington state organizations endorsed the EASY Access to Meals and Snacks Act:
Children’s Alliance
Anti-Hunger and Nutrition Coalition
Boys & Girls Clubs of Spokane County
Food Connection Tacoma
Food Lifeline
Loon Lake School District
Lutheran Public Policy Office
Minority Executive Directors Coalition
National Association of Social Workers WA
Nespelem Elementary School
Northwest Harvest
Nutrition First
Onalaska Schools
School’s Out Washington
Seattle Food Committee
The Nooksack Tribe
Touchet School District
University Food Bank
WA State Food and Nutrition Council
Within Reach
Yakama Mission

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