Better food choices from schools to movie theaters.

Good news for us parents who want to raise healthy eaters. The U.S. school lunch program is getting a budget increase to improve nutritional quality of food served in public schools.

Senator Blanche Lincoln, chairwoman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, unveiled the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, which provides $4.5 billion in new child nutrition program funding over 10 years.

“The bill invests heavily to automatically enroll more eligible low-income children with our National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs and includes a major expansion of after-school feeding programs,” Lincoln said at a news conference in Washington.

This is what the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 will do:

• Expand the at-risk after-school program from a snack to a meal.
• Allow schools in high-poverty areas to offer free meals to all students without collecting paper applications to reduce administrative burdens on schools.
• Add a 6-cent-per-meal increase to help schools meet healthier standards.
• Gives the secretary of agriculture the authority to establish national nutrition standards for all foods sold on school campus throughout the school day.
• Facilitates planting school gardens and using local foods in school cafeterias.

“When Congress passes the child nutrition reauthorization bill, it will help get all junk food out of every school once and for all,” Margo G. Wootan, nutrition policy director at the Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington, said in a statement.

We hope the health-consciousness also extends to movie theater fare. In related news, it’s been reported that the head of a major Hollywood studio is asking for healthier snacks at concession stands in addition to candy, popcorn and soda.

In a speech at ShoWest, the nation’s largest convention for the movie theater industry, Michael Lynton, the chief executive officer of Sony Pictures Entertainment, said “adding healthier options to your existing menu is the right thing to do for our industry, for audiences and for our country.”

Lynton said he was not asking theaters to stop selling popcorn, soda and candy. 

”Audiences love them,” he said. “I’m just talking about adding some healthier items to what you already sell.” 
Some healthier snack options could include fresh fruit, fruit cups, apples with dip; veggies with dip; yogurt; granola bars and trail mix; baked chips, apple chips and unbuttered, air-popped popcorn.

My kids have their little share of sweet treats once in awhile, but they should get used to eating more substantial foods for most of their snacks and meals. It can’t become a habit if they are not offered healthy options. I really think kids can learn to love yogurt over ice cream or wheat bread over white. I’m glad that more of the powers-that-be are doing something to make this an easier effort for us parents.

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