Re: Healthier School Lunches

A request was made for resources, and they were not the first. Rather that reinvent the wheel I’ve decided to post an exchange from the listserv so you could hear it from the horses mouth:

It would be very useful to know

1.       how to find out how each person voted

2.      What moneys they received from the food industry

Could you post these links?

Wes King replied with the following:

[Name of inquisitor has been removed],

From what I understand or at least from my position it really is not possible/not readily available to break out that kind of information. 

The applicable changes were included in the larger “minibus” appropriations bill that includes appropriations for FY 2012 in the areas of Agriculture, Commerce/Justice/Science, Transportation/Housing and Urban Development. Therefore a yes vote on the bill can’t really be taken as an endorsement one way or the other on the school lunch issue.

The US House’s version of the bill from this summer included language urging USDA to rewrite the applicable standards, Im not sure if that was an amendment or was included in the mark-up for the bill (committee member writing and editing process of the bill). The Senate’s version included the specific block on potato/starchy food limits which was done on behalf of several senators from big potato growing states. That amendment was offered by Senator Collins from Maine but I have not been able to find a vote tally.

The other restrictions and language related to tomato paste, sodium and whole grains was added during the conference committee. The conference committee was set-up to reconcile the differences between the House and Senate appropriations bills and in that process the language blocking USDA’s improved school lunch nutrition standards were solidified and included.

I surely hope that does not sate your curiosity.