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2013 -- H 6244 | |
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LC02811 | |
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND | |
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IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY | |
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JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2013 | |
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H O U S E R E S O L U T I O N | |
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RESPECTFULLY REQUESTING THE RHODE ISLAND DEPARTMENT OF | |
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ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION TO REVIEW STATE REGULATIONS | |
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RELATED TO THE NUTRITIONAL CONTENT OF SCHOOL BREAKFAST AND LUNCH | |
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PROGRAMS | |
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Introduced By: Representatives Handy, and Cimini | |
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Date Introduced: June 18, 2013 | |
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Referred To: House read and passed | |
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WHEREAS, Children’s learning cannot occur in the absence of a well-balanced diet. For |
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too many children in Rhode Island, however, a well-balanced diet is not a part of their every day |
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lives. According to Rhode Island Kids Count, between 2007 and 2012, the number of Rhode |
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Islanders receiving emergency food assistance from food pantries and soup kitchens each month |
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doubled, with children representing one-third of those who receive emergency food assistance. |
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Also troubling is the continued uptick in the rate of childhood obesity in Rhode Island, a |
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condition that points to a lack of balance in the consumption of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, |
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and sugars, and that undermines many children’s chance for a healthy path to adulthood; and |
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WHEREAS, Education leaders at the state level and in every community in Rhode Island |
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have stepped in to ensure that the children who enter their buildings have access to nutritious |
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meals. These low cost or free breakfasts and lunches provide young learners with the energy they |
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need to engage in their school activities, inside the classroom as well as on the playground; and |
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WHEREAS, Rhode Island’s School Breakfast and Lunch Programs involve the active |
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participation of multiple entities at the federal, state, and local levels. The U.S. Department of |
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Agriculture (USDA) oversees and funds Child Nutrition Programs, the Rhode Island Department |
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of Elementary and Secondary Education (RIDE) develops regulations along with the Department |
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of Health and administers the programs at the state level, and school districts develop local meal |
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programs that comply with USDA Requirements for Federal School Meals Programs; and |
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WHEREAS, The building blocks of Rhode Island’s School Meal Programs include a |
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balance of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and sugars. These essential nutrition requirements |
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have been highlighted by the USDA under the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (Pub.L. |
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111–296), and changes to school meals that result from this Act are now being phased in by local |
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districts throughout the state; and |
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WHEREAS, The changes in nutrition requirements at the federal level present an |
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opportunity for Rhode Island to consider how whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and sugars are |
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discussed in state regulations and how they appear in school meals at the local level; and |
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WHEREAS, The current nutrition criteria for Rhode Island School Food Service |
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Programs, last updated by RIDE in 2009, allow for whole grain products, which are defined as a |
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food in which one hundred percent (100%) of the flour or grain ingredient is whole grain, to have |
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no more than 7 grams of total sugar per ounce. The same criteria allow whole grain products with |
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added dried fruits, such as Raisin Bran, to have more than 7 grams of sugar per serving, without |
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stipulating a maximum allowed. The lack of a limit on the sugar content contained in school |
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meals is at odds with the rising rate of childhood obesity and appears to run counter to children’s |
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nutritional requirements; now, therefore be it |
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RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island and |
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Providence Plantations hereby respectfully requests that the Rhode Island Department of |
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Elementary and Secondary Education, working with any other relevant partner agency or |
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organization, review its regulations regarding the nutritional content of whole grains, fruits, |
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vegetables, and sugars in School Meal Programs to ensure that the state’s programs and local |
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district policies and practices reflect the best understanding of children’s nutritional needs; and be |
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it further |
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RESOLVED, That the department shall report its findings and conclusions to the Speaker |
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of the Rhode Island House of Representatives and the Chairman of the Health, Education, and |
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Welfare Committee on or before February 11, 2014. |
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LC02811 | |
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