Heitkamp, Collins Reintroduce Bipartisan, Bicameral Bill to Help Schools Keep Providing Healthy Meals for Students to Succeed

Press Release

U.S. Senators Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) and Susan Collins (R-ME) today announced they reintroduced their bipartisan, bicameral bill to provide North Dakota schools with the resources and equipment they need to keep providing students with nutritious meals that help them grow and achieve.

As the daughter of a school cook in a rural school district, Heitkamp has long championed making sure schools across North Dakota -- especially those with fewer financial resources -- have the ability to serve students the healthy meals they need to succeed, just like she was able to receive. Currently 100 percent of North Dakota school districts meet U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) nutrition standards. Introduced with Republican U.S. Senator Susan Collins of Maine, Heitkamp's School Food Modernization Act would work to help North Dakota school districts build on the success, by making sure the 74 percent of North Dakota school districts that need updated kitchen equipment are able to have more flexibility in delivering healthy meals and provide a wider variety of healthy options.

Many studies have proven how crucial healthy meals are to students' academic and cognitive performance. That's why Heitkamp and Collins' bipartisan, bicameral bill would help schools -- including more than one-third of North Dakota's school districts that need kitchen infrastructure changes in at least one of their schools -- better meet federal standards, while also reducing inefficiencies and costs by using new or improved equipment. The bill would also improve training and technical assistance to school food service personnel, providing them with the skills they need to prepare and serve healthy meals.

Companion legislation to this bill was also introduced today in the U.S. House of Representatives by Congressmen Lou Barletta (R-PA) and Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA).

"Growing up in Mantador, my mom was a school cook who helped make sure every child had a good, nutritious meal at our small rural school -- and that's not something any North Dakota student should miss out on, no matter how rural or cash-strapped their school district might be," said Heitkamp. "But too often I hear from educators across our state, especially in rural areas, about how expensive updates to their aging kitchens can be -- if their schools even have kitchens at all. Study after study shows that kids who eat right and eat well do better in school. Together with Senator Collins, we're reintroducing a commonsense, bipartisan bill to provide schools with the kitchen equipment and resources they need to serve the nutritious meals to make sure all of our kids can succeed."

"In small rural schools like New-Salem Almont that have aging buildings with inadequate or old kitchens, providing the varied lunch options kids need to keep them at their peak academic performance is more than a challenge," said Principal Michael Gilbertson of New Salem-Almont Public Schools. "At New Salem-Almont High School our kitchen is consolidated with Prairie View Elementary's aging facility. Our students are lucky enough to be within walking distance -- but often rural schools like ours have to bus to each their lunch, and we're constantly trying to keep up. Healthy and diverse food choices should not be based on geographical location. That's why I'm proud to support Senator Heitkamp's bill that would give rural schools like mine a cost-effective solution to upgrade our systems so we can make the quality food locally our kids need to grow."

"When you've replaced ovens from 1968 that are older than you, dishwashers from the 80s, and had to get creative with small kitchens made from converted closets -- you understand how significant basic equipment upgrades can be to improving the nutrition and health of students," said Food Service Director Lynelle Johnson of Williston Public Schools. "I'm proud to support Senator Heikamp's bill that would help school districts like mine -- where our newest elementary school was built in the 80s, and others in the 50s and 60s -- to make the equipment upgrades our kids are counting on so they can achieve their potential."

"For farm-to-school programs like those at TGU Granville School, the items that our students and teachers grow, harvest and use in our school lunch program make nutritious and healthy meals that our students look forward to each day," said Principal Tonya Hunskor of TGU Granville. "That's why Senator Heitkamp's bill to make sure schools like ours have the kitchen infrastructure and equipment we need to assist in keeping the produce stored is so important, and I'm proud to support her efforts to make sure every student gets the nutritious meals they need to learn and grow."

Click here for a one-page summary of the bill, and click here to read a letter from 50 organizations sent to Senators Heitkamp and Collins and Representatives Barletta and DeSaulnier in support of their bill.

Heitkamp and Collins' School Food Modernization Act would provide federal grants and loan guarantees to help schools upgrade kitchen infrastructure and purchase new kitchen equipment, including refrigerators, commercial ovens, and stoves. In North Dakota, the median cost per school for equipment is $18,000. Heitkamp's bipartisan bill would also authorize USDA to provide support to third-party, highly-qualified trainers to instruct food service personnel on best practices to meet updated nutrition guidelines.

More than $28 million is needed in North Dakota alone to help schools across the state better serve nutritious meals to students. More than one in three children and adolescents in 2012 were overweight or obese, which can put them at higher risk of cardiovascular disease, developing diabetes, several types of cancers, and osteoarthritis. Improving the nutritional quality of meals, particularly at schools, can help put children on a healthy path forward and reduce the risk of childhood obesity and its associated risks.

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