The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act was passed by Congress and became law in 2010.  It was implemented in 2012 by the USDA.  Because of this new law, in the first month alone, 18,000 students did not participate in lunch causing a substantial loss in revenues for the Henrico School Nutrition Program.  With the Virginia Board of Education implementing additional regulations on food sold in our schools, there is a concern that these regulations could have a major impact on the ability of our schools to stay solvent.

Our programs are expected to be self-sustaining with no assistance from our local School Board operating funds.  We pay for salaries, benefits, supplies, food, and equipment for our kitchens.  Henrico has 39.4 percent “free and reduced” students which generates 55 percent of our revenues from the federal government.  Only 4.5 cents comes from the state for every lunch served.  Today, that 4.5 cents cannot even purchase a package of whole grain crackers. Sixteen percent of our revenues are generated from “a la carte” sales which are vital to the operation of our food service program. 

Virginia School Nutrition Programs must follow the USDA and the State Department of Education mandates on competitive foods.  In July of 2014, the federal competitive foods regulations are set to be implemented with additional mandates on calories, fat, saturated fat, sugar and sodium along with portion size.    To add another complex set of regulations on foods sold is not going to improve what is already in place. That could also prevent our programs from being self-sustaining which then could result in a financial burden on our local School Boards.

I thank you for this opportunity to comment on the concerns of competitive foods in Virginia schools and the State Board of Education should take great pride in the nutrition programs that are offered to our students.