|
Hi everyone, Wanted to pass on an editorial that ran today in the New
York Times on healthier school meals and food safety that might be of interest.
As you may know, the Administration is hoping for action in the lame duck
session. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/16/opinion/16tue4.html?_r=1&ref=opinion November 15, 2010 Two Easy Moves
for the Lame Duck
The lame-duck
Congress has a lot of work to do, including wrestling with the Bush-era tax
cuts, repealing the Pentagon’s discriminatory “don’t ask,
don’t tell” policy, and ratifying the New Start arms reduction
treaty. It also needs to approve two food-related measures that are badly
needed to protect the nation’s health. The good news is that a version of
each has already passed one chamber, and both have strong bipartisan support. The Senate
unanimously approved a bill that would reduce childhood obesity by getting junk
foods out of the schools and providing an additional $4.5 billion over the next
decade for child nutrition, including healthier school meals. Before the
election, more than 100 House Democrats objected to paying for that progress
partly by cutting a future rise in food stamp benefits. We understand
their concern. But President Obama has pledged to try to find replacement food
stamp financing before the cutbacks go into effect in 2013. This is good
legislation, and the House needs to act. The Senate
needs to approve a House food safety bill that would significantly strengthen
the Food and Drug Administration’s ability to combat food-borne
illnesses, including giving it the authority to recall contaminated products
and other tools to prevent contaminated foods from reaching the marketplace in
the first place. This bill has
strong bipartisan support. But a few senators, led by Jon Tester, a Democrat of
Montana, appear determined to tack on an amendment exempting from safety
standards a significant number of produce items and processed foods. That would
weaken the F.D.A.’s ability to protect Americans’ health. The
Senate needs to approve the bill without this amendment.
Justin
DeJong 1400
Independence Ave, SW, Room 403A |
