Congressman Tim Huelskamp Joins Congressman Steve King to Introduce "No Hungry Kids Act"
September 14, 2012
Congressman Tim Huelskamp Joins Congressman Steve King to Introduce "No Hungry Kids Act"
(WASHINGTON) – Congressman Tim Huelskamp of Kansas, a member of the House Agriculture Committee, joined Congressman Steve King of Iowa (and also a member of the House Agriculture Committee) to introduce "No Hungry Kids Act." They introduced the legislation in order to respond to new school lunch standards issued by the USDA that have curtailed calories. The legislation will repeal the USDA's rule that created the new standards, will prohibit the USDA's upper caloric limits, and will protect the rights of parents to send their children to school with the foods of their choice.
Throughout the August work period, Congressman Huelskamp heard complaints from many constituents about the new standards, especially that the new regulations were leaving student-athletes undernourished before high-heat, high-intensity athletic practices.
"The goal of the school lunch program is supposed to be feeding children, not filling the trash cans with uneaten food," said Congressman Huelskamp. "The USDA's new school lunch guidelines are a perfect example of what is wrong with government: misguided inputs, tremendous waste, and unaccomplished goals. Thanks to the Nutrition Nannies at the USDA, America's children are going hungry at school."
Earlier in the week Congressman Huelskamp announced that he would collect photos of school lunches to show how under-fed children are in the nation's schools. Read more about that here.
"For the first time in history, the USDA has set a calorie limit on school lunches," said Congressman King. "The goal of the school lunch program was- and is- to ensure students receive enough nutrition to be healthy and to learn. The misguided nanny state, as advanced by Michelle Obama's "Healthy and Hunger Free Kids Act," was interpreted by Secretary Vilsack to be a directive that, because some kids are overweight, he would put every child on a diet. Parent's know that their kids deserve all of the healthy and nutritious food they want."
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