FoodCorps and 100+ Partner Organizations Ask Congress to Prioritize Child Nutrition in the Build Back Better Act

As soon as tomorrow, Congress will decide what programs to cut from the Build Back Better Act — and this could include the bill’s robust provisions for child nutrition. It is crucial that these measures — including provisions for local procurement, food education, and kitchen modernization — stay in the bill in order to set kids up for success in the years to come. 

FoodCorps and more than 100 of our partner organizations sent a letter to Congressional leadership today urging them to prioritize child nutrition in the Build Back Better Act. Read the whole letter or an excerpt below: 

We, the undersigned organizations, wholeheartedly support all of the child nutrition provisions proposed in the Build Back Better Act. The current supply chain challenges experienced by many schools demonstrate the need for investing in stronger, more diverse local and regional food systems. In fact, some school nutrition programs with robust farm to school procurement already in place—such as school districts that have been buying from local vendors for years, or those that have local procurement practices at the ready— report fewer supply chain disruptions. Throughout the pandemic, examples like these have illustrated how farm to school activities help create a school food system more resilient to supply interruptions2 . The Build Back Better Act’s investment in local procurement and scratch cooking will not only address child nutrition security, it will also unlock the often overlooked potential of school meals in building resilient local economies and an equitable food system. When schools source ingredients from local producers, each dollar invested can stimulate up to an additional $2.16 in local economic activity3 . This investment has also been designed to support schools in providing more culturally appropriate food options and sourcing food from socially disadvantaged producers.

Contact your legislators today and ask them to prioritize child nutrition in the Build Back Better Act.