WASHINGTON — Saying schools are the "frontlines of our efforts to fight childhood obesity," first lady Michelle Obama and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the government is amping up efforts to get schools to serve more nutritious meals.
In a conference call Wednesday with educators and parent groups from around the country, Vilsack said the Department of Agriculture is putting up $5.5 million dollars in an effort to entice more school districts to join the HealthierUS School Challenge.
Right now only about 500 schools are certified in the program which sets concrete goals to serve more nutritious school meals. The participating schools adopt USDA standards for the food they serve and also agree to educate teachers, parents and kids on how to eat healthier and offer physical activity programs.
The USDA grants of up to $50,000 will be offered to state agencies that can show they've implemented specific strategies to increase the number of schools applying to the HealthierUS School Challenge in their state. The program was established in 2004 but only about a thousand schools have qualified in the ensuing years and many schools have dropped out. When the first lady announced her Let's Move initiative in 2010 with the goal of raising a "healthier generation" of kids, the HealthierUS School Challenge was incorporated into her campaign.
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