Political Quotes

“in the 53 years since the Federal Government began supporting lunch programs in schools, 25 laws have been passed by Congress making changes in the form and goals of Federal school lunch assistance. The history of school lunches is an interesting one, with its beginnings in World War II and depression-era programs to help the farmer. The war years also saw Federal support for lunch programs justified by the growing numbers of women in the work force. When I first came to the House of Representatives, 23 years ago, public schools provided a basic lunch to students. In the 1970's Congress began to focus on the operational needs of school lunch programs. Congress enacted a series of laws that established guaranteed cash and commodity reimbursements for each school lunch served and inflation adjustments in these reimbursements. This so-called performance funding feature was designed to encourage program expansion by assuring schools an amount of Federal funding they would receive. Later, Congress established uniform meal reimbursements for all lunches served and varied the financial support for different types of lunches according to their nutritional content. Over time, educators showed us that students learned better, behaved better, and were more attentive when they weren't hungry. Social services providers have shown us that the lunch children received in school was the most nutritious meal of the day for many children.”