connect the dots -- take any not going to questions. going forward we will speak as we filed. it's been a long five weeks. i'm sure you're interested in getting home. coming up tonight, a senate hearing on childhood obesity and school lunch nutrition. then live coverage of the california governors debate between the incumbent jerry brown and former treasury secretary assistant neel kashk ari. ferguson,ing the missouri, police department later. according to the centers for disease control, obesity rates have doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents over the last 30 years. agriculture hearing to improve nutrition in school

meals. this is one hour and 50 minutes. i'mow,an steva the director of the office of school nutrition. i'm honored to be here to address what i believe is a fundamental importance to all of us, the health and well-being of our children. cafeteria lines, there are only on americans who we are all related to serve. i'm grateful to chairwoman step abenow for the deliberation on this important issue. the trials and tribulations in detroit are well-known. decliningict with enrollment and multiple facility closures, i have the great pressure to make sure most of virtually written get each

breakfast and lunch with us. our work makes a critical, positive difference in the lives and community. to makethe first breakfast universally available supported by several studies and demonstrated a direct correlation between eating breakfast and improving academic performance. we provide free fresh cooked hot food to all students and all schools. we include a healthy array of fresh bunch tables and fruits, 100% fruit juices and low-fat milk. low risk.ve in detroit, we warmly welcome higher nutrition standards from the 2010 health and kids hunger act. this has prompted us to institute changes that are making a conscious difference in the life of children and employees. this provides a framework for

several other provisions of the legislation including additional training opportunities and equipment and purchasing assistance. it is the improve nutrition standards that have allowed us to introduce new equipment in our kitchens. produce washers, salad bars, deepable steamer , and fat fryer's are obsolete. nutrition standards are a force for positive change, a force that we see a necessity for the lifelong health and well-being of our children. in addition to new equipment, our food distribution partners find the product we need to foodde quality that our children need. they have become determined to meet our improved standards. us meet the new regulatory requirements. serving the nutritional needs and our children.

87% of our children in detroit are eligible for free school meals. i have discovered through my career that hunger and malnutrition is not confined to low income families who. common forrity is the kids at the end of the cul-de-sac as it is the urban street corners. poverty schools like those in our district to provide breakfast and lunch to all students free of charge reach,ing efficiency, reducing hunger. it delivers benefits through reducing the administrative burden resulting from the elimination of paper application. the increased male participation rates allow me to capture economy to scale while the savings generated covers the cost of providing meals to children who might otherwise pay. stability the overall , as you are likely aware, they

are now participating in cep. the work of the committee is making a critical positive impact on these lives each and every day. another direct benefit of the forove nutrition standards michigan grown. they farm our products. as vice chair of the local food association, the only trade association for buyers and we produce local sustainable food. i'm doing my part to increase the share of local farmers.

we are increasing our children's andsure to fresh food lifelong habits to improve quality of life. in addition for nearby farms and school programs, we have the additional benefit of delivering education opportunity in the cafeteria, the classroom by participating in opportunities. dps and community partners initiated creating gardens at the school. expanding access to real life laboratories to teach children about healthy eating, nutrition, and being conscious of growing food. the garden beds are built by the children and thereby having to food. these sites can become garden centers. we have a 2.5 acre farm.

we are also engaged in development of the tendering project, the repurchasing of a closed high school site. recent shared the progress toward improving school nutrition programs represents a solid value proposition for the nation. responsible, we must scale our focus away from the emphasize change to the progress enabled by these new policies. difficultnal changes and often times near impossible. it takes time and includes short-term discomfort. the efforts prompted by improved standards have and will continue to generate valuable returns. , it palest-term pains

in comparison to the reform highly desirable and attainable. districtsf 10 school are already in compliance with the new standard. thank you again for the opportunity to be with you, , and as a stabenow michigan resident i want to say how proud and grateful we are for your leadership on this issue. have you so pleased to here today. mr. clements, we welcome you as well. >> thank you very much. rankingan stabenow, member cochran, my name is scott the office of healthy schools from the mississippi department of education. on behalf of our thousands of food service workers, thank you

for this opportunity to speak to you today. i have a few mississippi initiatives i would like to discuss, the statewide purchasing cooperatives. the first nutrition statewide purchasing entity in the county that began in 1992 and is an effort to lower costs and simplify procurement. the majority of school district are river lay located. both product prices were high due to the limited buying power of the district. by pooling together the buying power of almost every school in our state, we can better utilize the economy of scale inherent with large volume purchasing .llowing us to provide we issue bids for related of 130s in excess

million dollars per year. due to the high volume, we are prices negotiate and having only delivery fees associated with the items. currently, we have 183 organizations with almost 1000 delivery sites. the majority of the participating organizations are public schools and all but two of the district in the state purchase a paid. we have a number of head starts and governmental agencies also participating in the national school lunch program. we are not allowed to use usda expense funds to pay for this. the cooperative is self funded. we charge about half a penny for for all costsrved associated. we order and distribute about $16 million in usda donated foods annually. through the purchasing

cooperative we have a statewide delivery system in place able to further reduce the costs of the organization by having the foods delivered by the same manufacturers, same brokers. use of both buying power and distribution network help faceperative to challenges implementing farm to school programs. many of our states most abundant crops -- cotton and soybeans -- cannot go to the table. then we have many of our most plentiful crops have harvests during the summer when school is not in session. to assist schools and farmers, we work with the department of defense and the mississippi department of agriculture to bring locally grown products to schools through the state. and 2015 we will have about $1 million worth of

locally grown produce delivered through our office. meeter initiative was to the new sodium requirements. when first announced, products did not exist to make it available for schools to meet the sodium requirements and still have nutritious and appetizing meals to maintain participation. the cooperative again played a -- weble to play a role were able to get a chef at a national manufacturer to produce a no low-sodium spice blend. we have three available now. they are now available to schools through the united states. we also supply schools with 50 standardize recipes to incorporate the new spice blends to reduce sodium in the school meals. the last thing i would like to talk about our school meals, recipes, and menus. since 1996, mississippi cycles is a coordinated program of

sample menus and recipes the schools could implement to meet nutrition standards. that was updated in 2005. with the new healthy hunger-free kids act, that system no longer works. the menu planning was more complex so we pulled together a task force in created mississippi recipes for success. we have matrices, standardized menus, an online program that's available to any school that would like to participate. this was all in response to the complex menu planning. we filled the small schools do not have the resources to implement them by themselves. pardon me. that,st piece of mississippi recipes for success, we have standardized ingredients all across the border and that's

been a benefit to us when it comes to the administrative review which are more frequent now than they used to be. by having all of these pieces together it simplifies the process making it possible to meet the new standards. thank you for the opportunity to appear before this committee. i would be happy to provide additional information as needed. >> thank you very much. ms. bauscher, we are so glad you are here. >> thank you, ranking member stabenow. on behalf of the 55,000 members of the school nutrition association we are talking about strengthening nutrition programs. the're recognizing importance of the academic success of students which is why we have expanded our school breakfast options, increased summer feeding sites, launched upper oh grams.

we have worked diligently to improve school menus and we support most of the new regulations. variety andg a making limits on calories and fat while reducing sodium. .e are making healthier choices school nutrition professionals are truly committed to the healthy hunger free kids act and its goal of expanding access to school meals. that's why we're so concerned about the historic klein in student lunch participation. the national school lunch program has grown steadily. under the new requirements, student participation is abruptly down in 49 states. more than one million jews school lunch each day even

though student enrollment in participating schools -- than one million choose school lunch each day. if this trend continues, the school cafeteria will no longer be a place where all students dying and learn healthy habits together. despite our best efforts, schools have struggled with student acceptance of new options and many have been challenged to find whole-grain rich tortillas almond biscuits, crackers and other specialty items. they complained the pasta and bread are burned, tough, or taste strange. different flavor than what they might find at home or in their favorite restaurant. food companies serving schools that introduce new schools meeting all of the standard tastes that some of these are not widely available or affordable.

with low and reduced availability face unique challenges because paid meal participation declines have a greater impact on their budget. like colorado, minnesota, new york, illinois, some schools are dropping out of the program rather than meeting the requirements. they do not have the option or desire to leave the program. the school nutrition association found that 47% of school meal programs reported revenue decline while nine out of 10 reported food costs were up. the federal reimbursement rate for serving a free lunch emma just over three dollars, they're required to serve for less than what most people pay for their morning coffee. more than attle dollar for the food on each lunch tray.

food, especially those required, is getting more expensive. despite significant increases in price over the last year, the reimbursement rate adjustment was actually smaller than the previous year. each half pint of milk alone will cost me one nickel more exceeding the four sent increase. we appreciate every penny covered but this does not doubling the amount of fruit. now they must take a fruit or vegetable whether they intend to eat it or not. much of this costly produce ends up in the trash. as schools struggle to manage rising costs and waste, what once was a problem is rapidly becoming a problem for school district. we cannot cover annual losses so

school district talk to pick up our tab. can cut into district educational funds. this fall, schools face more challenges as they work to meet more smart snacks in school rules. strip healthyto options from the a look cart issues because of strict sodium issues. -- a la cart options. of the schoolbers nutrition association wants to continue to be part of the conversation as the committee redraft the language. thank you again for having me. >> we certainly intend to have you involved all the way along. dr. wilson, welcome. chair, senator cochran, i'm dr. katie wilson, executive director of the national food service management institute at the university of mississippi. i appreciate the chance to share our outreach with you today.

we're meeting at a time of unprecedented coverage. school meal programs are not only part of the vital safety net but as a past school director in wisconsin, i believe it is the best safety net for children. the child is assured access to the food. should alsoprograms serve as learning tools educating what a healthy meal looks like. we operate in the education arena so school meals must be a part of that process. each of us in this hearing room is struggling to balance the idea of what a school meal should consist of. in a learning exchange with united kingdom, i have come to learn that the nutrition standards instituted through the u.k. years ago are still ng the healthressiv

and well-being of students. they have seen an increase in dental caries. the school food advisor from the u.k. is here as a church hill fellow. she can lend more details after the hearing is there is more interest. interest to everyone. the numerous resources available from the national food service management institute, also known as the institute. the institute is the only federally funded national center dedicated to assisting child .utrition professionals authorized by congress in

the school lunch act funded by the department of agriculture and other outside foundations. and assistance is available in a variety of formats. we have over 20 training topics on inventory control in male pattern training in face to face format. we have provided face-to-face training for over 7000 child nutrition rational through the u.s. and its territories in the 2012 to 2013 reporting period. example of this included the healthy cuisine kids culinary class. a two day training taught by a chef and registered dietitian. it is offered whenever an agency requested.

in california, they organized over 10 of these culinary classes with total participants. these are hands-on classes offering school attrition professionals the opportunity to learn new culinary skills and refreshed the ones they already have. all face-to-face topics are available in the same manner. all curriculum is also available to download free of charge for districts to use within the runtime frame and convenience in an easy to use manner. we have information on how to best use usda food, nor a virus,

and others. they are easy to access from your computer or tablet all free of charge. a certificate of completion comes out after they complete the course and passes it quiz with a 70% learning rate. in the 2012-2013 reporting throughthousands went training at the institute. we want to expand that number as free ofh our report charge. technical assistance is available free of charge if a district requested. we hire a consultant based on the area of expertise needed and help the district come into compliance in whatever area they need. we worked in two district in kansas and are presently working with new york city in personal technical assistance. this is all free of charge. school meals have become a focus point for many in this country.

the institute and other allied organizations provide great resources as they work to provide high quality, nutritious meals being served. it has become more and more challenging to feed the consumer-savvy population, it's important to realize our job. a child will learn lifelong eating habits during their tenure. in closing, i want to thank the senate for providing leadership and your commitment to children and child nutrition programs. i'm happy to answer any questions. welcome.il muir, we are glad to have you. >> thank you, chairwoman stabenow. ceo of aresident and farm in salt lake city. thank you for inviting me here today and calling attention to the critical issue of school nutrition. i am compassionate about making a difference in the nutrition of our school aged children. copper canyon farms

provides fresh fruits and vegetables to 52 rural and urban school district in utah, idaho, and western wyoming with a total enrollment of 450,000. vendorthe usda-dod prime for these schools and indian reservations in these three states. we provide them with fresh fruits and vegetables for the program, school lunch, school breakfast, and the summer feeding programs. schools are about 15% of our company revenue. is acopper canyon farms member of a cooperative of 70 produce distributors across north america who leverage our purchasing power together to make the most price effect to, quality assured, food safe purchases possible. we are also a member of the united fresh produce association and i serve on its nutrition and health council. we have a saying at muir copper

canyon farms. our school customers deserve the best. success to us is students eating more fresh fruits and vegetables, going home, and telling their parents about the new fruits and vegetables they've tried at school, and help to improve their families eating habits. we consider ourselves more than just a supplier or a bid winner. we are a partner with our school customers. our goal is to be a solution provider through information, training, consultation assisting's rules to successfully implement all of the fruit and vegetable requirements. our staff meets with our school customers to discuss the new fruit and vegetable items together, seasonality, buying local, and getting the best value for their limited budget. we provide schools with the fresh pursuit standards and handling guide as a training special provide with training workshops, nutrition education materials, farmber

kickoffd participate in events. i highlight a few examples. for the fresh fruit and vegetable program, we work with schools to lower labor and packaging costs while providing them with a wide variety of fresh fruit and vegetables individually portioned in a system easy to deliver right to the classroom. we have a booth at the utah show each year. in june, we demonstrated how schools could grill fresh vegetables and bite sizes. when one attendee said they did not have grills in their school and it was not realistic, we showed them how the same results could be achieved using school ovens. we have introduced new dark green leafy salad mixes that are more appealing, nutrient dense, and cost-effective. perspective, there are a few key points i want to make. schools that were proactive in introducing -- improving the

helpfulness and made incremental changes offering nutrition education are not having problems or experiencing significant increased plate waste. theols that qualify for program have previously introduced their students to a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables as part of their lunch program. eat fresh fruits and vegetables when they are served , appetizingting manner. the dietary guidelines for america calls for children and adults to make half their plate fruits and vegetables at every meal. how can you call a school breakfast or lunch a meal if it does not include at least half a cup of fruits or vegetables? after all, it's only half a cup per meal. the produce industry is committed and stands ready to support school food service directors in successfully implementing new nutrition

requirements. just last week, myself and other distributors, growers, and united fresh produce associates hosted a fresh produce pavilion at the school nutrition association annual convention in boston. they came to ask questions about we also presented to educational workshop sessions. assist theffort to school nutrition community. we strongly support the implementation of the healthy 2010, ande act of believe that school children deserve a wide variety of healthy vegetables. need half a cup of vegetables at every meal. this is about helping american

children. thank you for letting me speak. i'm happy to answer any questions. >> thank you very much to all of you for your very important information. sodo not have a lot of time, we want to get as many questions as we can. betti, let me start with you. that i think back to myself and my kids when they were in school, and things go up and down, and new food comes in and takes time to change, certainly, we all know that change can be a challenge in our own lives. but you said that students are really enjoying the food, particularly the produce, in detroit. i am wondering what you are

doing differently that is helping students to want to eat fresh fruits and vegetables? >> we did in detroit. passed, i010 act was did not wait until 2014 to introduce it to kids. in detroit, we have to do things early. the stronger administrative standards, we had to implement them early. when we introduced those items to children, they ate them raw almond they ate them in their natural state. then we put them on the menu. a programplemented the children do not have to take all of the items, they just have to take eight cup of fruit. fruit. being of

from michigan, and apple was primary to introduce. we introduced all varieties of apples. kindergartners then are now fourth-graders. fourth-graders then are eighth-graders now. they know this is what a school meal looks like in detroit during eighth-graders now are 12 graders, and hopefully when they go onto college, they will have had the experience of eating healthy foods. it is really about continuously educating our children, putting items before them, and using various resources like the department of education can provide less, to get kids to get used to seeing these items on their trays. muir, you're- talking about getting the best value for the plate.

watching -- iife admit once or twice dumping stuff out myself, i do not think it is knew the kids do that. workingu talk about with rural communities to address the concerns and challenges that have been raised? goodthink that is a question. first of all, as far as plate waste, we work closely with school districts to limit that. the best way to fight that is andrting appropriate appetizing we prepared food -- appetizingly-prepared food. 180 miles from salt lake le.y is the town of cokevil we get fresh food at an fruits

and -- fresh fruits and vegetables to their food services. we make fresh fruit availability easy for rural schools as well as urban schools. city is out in the beautiful country, and it takes three separate trucks to get the food there. but we get produce there on a weekly basis to them too. so produce can be distributed to rural schools. but it does take an extra effort either on the organization's part or on the distributor's part to underpin those small school district. >> thank you very much. i don't think i will have the time to get to what i want to,

but the amount of time that children have to eat is another issue of concern. i do want, at this point, to congratulate you on your convention, i know our staff was there, it sounds like you had a great convention. you had over 400 vendors that participated. they all demonstrated products that were compliance in -- in order to participate, they had to show products that were compliance for breakfast, lunch, and food requirements. >> yes.correct? we were very fortunate to have many of our industry supporters there to provide a variety of products. again, industry has really stepped up to the plate to provide a product that meets that requirement, that are lower in sodium, and we are very

thankful for that. i went straight to produce row on the show floor. i showed them the many new products that produce vendors are offering us. again, our members support the andeased quantity of fruits vegetables, the wide variety, but many districts are struggling with the challenge of procuring those. areas serviced by mr. meurer are very fortunate. mr. muir are very fortunate. nutrition education is very important on getting children to change their eating habits. >> i just congratulate you on getting 400 vendors there.

to get 100% whole grain rich, fruits and vessels, that is a good first step. i thought that was a very impressive first step. at this point, let us turn to senator cochran. -- madam chair, thank you for your leadership. thank you for the participation of the panel of our witnesses. i want to ask mr. clements, who at the mississippi department of education. education, what his experience has been with the use of tools with menu planners, which he created at state levels , and has been prevented through schools throughout our state. what have been your challenges or successes that you could share with the committee and the panel? >> thank you sir. i think the biggest success that

we had was that we decided, in come up with-- to gressive training panel. i think that has been critical for our small school districts to have the tools to implement the changes, like i say, we have an online tool now, but the challenges that we have had unfortunately have been the complexity of the rules. we -- the expression used in mississippi, i'm sure you will appreciate this cup -- is that what we are tricky from the fire hose sometimes. theould like to clarify regulation since 2010, and that has been a very big challenge for us.

those at ouret level and to decide how to implement them, and the last challenge would be to get our -- who wet the usda know works very hard, we need the information to us before the deadline. we have to make our training on what we think is going to be implemented. sometimes, those policy memos will change at the last minute. granted, we love some of the exemptions that come out, they are very beneficial, but if they come out at the last minute, it is hard for us to pivot during -- pivot. thank you, thank you, madam chair. >> thank you very senator brown.

>> this is a very important discussion, and i appreciate all five of you wayne and the way that you have. i think the testimony from all shows the importance of this. wiggins, i think we acknowledged that. onhink dr. wilson's comments a lifelong eating habits for younger people is important. thank you for all that you are doing to get through this. change, and mr. clements what you are doing, thank you for that. a couple of questions. first one, for dr. wilson. mention theiefly experience of the cincinnati public schools. it is a big school system in our country, and it was the biggest one that started a government

food program. they told us that they serve 80,000 meals a day. every school increased the breakfast program, and offered up healing food programs, and they started off the school year with significant profits. how do we, dr. wilson, replicate that success in other school districts? >> thank you, for the question. andink it can be replicated it has been in other districts as well. jessica is another person who started work -- started early and didn't wait. is a voluntary program that started before the meal pattern was put into place, so many , itols i got on board included nutrition education and

physical education, the institute has a training program for class for that, so a lot of early andses started they got enrolled early. i know from my experience in wisconsin that fresh fruits and isetables -- although we did that we had a mandatory standard for putting out three colors. and the usage of those vegetables skyrocketed because we made them -- we put them out and appealing manner. when we brought all the 40 largest districts together, and we have these kinds of discussions, but i think if we -- dallas,las texas, texas, and in los angeles, it works very well. all of these states like mississippi, and other states, they are doing these great things -- they are all on these

websites -- kansas is another one that does phenomenal work. it is way ahead of the game, where all of these resources are available to everyone -- free of charge. all of that stuff is available. >> thank you dr. wilson. i moved into the city of cleveland, the zip code that we lived in had the highest of foreclosure of any zip code in the united states. we know the challenges in urban areas in your city, in my city. we have also seen the cleveland is ranked in the top two or three of any city -- of all country, of the urban gardens. i was specifically interested in your comments in urban gardening. talk more about that, and how

you -- how the city school system has worked community gardens and urban gardens. translate this into what we can do in cleveland and how others of us can do around the country in urban gardening selling directly to the schools. >> thank you for the question. one of the things that have been most positive, we at the detroit public schools did not try this by ourselves. i have reached out to community partners. of my partners had access to farmers, and that i reached out , biggestate university agricultural school in the country -- >> [laughter] >> yes, they provided me with farmers, they provided me with

information. from that information, we created a plan. we created the detroit school garden collaborative. i reached out to all of the partners. teachers, andr that has been fundamentally important to us by educating the teachers. have youth garden ambassadors so those products can be taking care of. wewe develop our gardens, make sure that three garden have food that goes to the schools. our kids would plant zucchini, yellow squash, and tomatoes. they learn during that process. they learn when they harvest those things. the kids learn how to reduce plate waste. in, they learn

from it. they have shown other kids, and it rates a big source of pride. restaurant a local like the detroit school. i worked with them several times and looked at the garden program. a commitment to new nutrition standards that made me -- that itt it read requires community involvement to make it work. that is why i see the new standards as a valuable proposition for our nation's standards. trying to stem childhood obesity. >> thanks. thanks every much. afore senator leahy puts statement on the public record,

he reminded us for members that were not hear that the pumpkin squares that you have in front of you come from vermont. we also thank senator casey for meatballs. weeat are eating well today. senator donnelly. >> thank you for holding this hearing. if i might start with you, ms. , i found your testimony interesting and very candid and honest about that challenges you are facing. every member in the united a lot ofnate visit schools, we all do. anis a great place to get honest assessment of things, as you know.

-- and isit schools open it up to questions -- these days, over the last few years, one of the common criticisms i hear from kids relates to the school lunch programs. choices, it may be about food they don't want to eat, it may be they don't get enough to eat, that sort of thing. it seems to me that whatever we do with all of our good intentions, if we can't sell it to kids, we are fooling ourselves. because it will go on their plates and then it will go into the trash bin. here is what i worry about. i worry that we have thrown so that we areols

going to get to a point where participation goes down -- schools will back away from the willam, school -- kids back away from the program, and at the end of the day, we end up with the poor kids eating the school lunch program food because it is free and reduced, and the rest of the kids who have the resources from home to do something else are going to do something else. i'm i'm missing something here -- m i missing something here? something here? appealing meals to be to all students. we want to feed all students. want students who are eligible to free and reduced meals to have a stigma for receiving those meals. we are worker he hard. i made betty -- betti.

changes early i cultivated community partners, but that is still a challenge to assure that our meals are appealing to all students. that is why i think some flexibility is important in ensuring that students come to the cafeteria. we encourage them to make healthy choices and make healthy easy choices for them, but operators need a little bit of flexibility to ensure that all of their students participate in the program. >> as each witness was testifying today, it just occurred to me how different the places are that you come from. there is nothing like detroit in my state. becauseat just simply mean,a bigger city -- i

it is just -- just hard to describe. detroit is not like many of the communities that i visit. ms. wiggins, would you agree that one of the things that we might be missing is the lack of flexibility between a detroit nebraska? >> i , mynderstand your question havets had the ability to us, through either community or an organization, put items on i think whattray. you are missing is that school meals are not a welfare program. it supports education for all children. those children that you worried -- that you are worried are the ones

bringing in the junk food to the cafeteria. those kids whose parents cannot afford to give the money any day ? at those of the kids with their heads down on the cafeteria those are the kids with their heads down on the table because they can't eat lunch. i wanted to support the new nutrition standards. i had to put a cap on spending because i am in business, i am a business person. went up 16%,ion and i had more money available to me. now my per capita spending is around three dollars. we have to be savvy about what we do. i had to make food that was more appealing before. but -- it did not cost me any

difficulty. in detroit -- i don't know if you heard my testimony, i am not concerned about the kids on the urban street corners. we do a really good job on taking care of them. i am concerned about the kids where the property value is about 40%. we want to take care of all of our children. the troika is not any unique and different than the number of poor children in appalachia, or kentucky, or west in a native of their -- native american reservations. but the programs and the legislations that are before you right now, the reauthorization, is not only a would start, it is a necessary start so that we can talk about feeding all children. fax thank you, madam chair.

>> thank you very much. senator donnelly. things that has bothered me so much is that there is a dramatic increase in type two diabetes. is that a subject that comes up at your conferences, as to how your efforts can help stem the tide on that? appreciate that question. that is a question that comes up in our district. it is one of the reasons that we have been able to implement new meal standards. typee a six-year-old with two diabetes, or people who were grossly overweight, we know that we have to do something. our education leaders are just as concerned as i am as he nutrition later, and they support these nutrition standards. so it is not just confined to

the school lunch lady, it is really an issue that we all need to be concerned about. >> i think that is a subject that as you look at it, the direct action of your work can change the impact on the health of our children. you.agree with i got truly interested with the secretary of the army came to me and talked about how our kids are so grossly obese, and i was just shaking my head. that motivated me more than ever to work hard to implement nutrition standards. foodave to be a savvy service director. you have to use all of the tools . the usda provides us with a lot of tools. friend, senator heitkamp, had to go and provide -- pres ide over the senate.

he was talking about the equipment you need. for dr. wilson shaking your head -- are the things we can do to help with equipment needs? countrywe do across the , in the training on how to use the aquatic, that is definitely an issue. there are a lot of infrastructures in schools that do not have coolers and freezers, and schools that were built without kitchens. as people begin to progress into this different mode into feeding children in our school system, updating equipment, getting new agreement is definitely a need out there. we used to have equipment grants when i first started in the business, and it was wonderful. you could get some very nice pieces of equipment during equipment now can be universal. you can use it to steam, wake, roasts him a all from one piece bake, roast, all from

equipment. >> how do you bring in your local farming groups? i am from indiana, and one of the proudest our farmers is to see their products used in local towns. how do you bring that together -- do you need to bring local farmers and purchasing groups -- or, i mean, groups that you buy from -- what makes it easy for you to make it as local as we have had some success with local farmers, and we are happy with that. we have relied very strongly on the department of agriculture to

help us, and we have used the dod program to urges equipment. in --chase equipment or equipment. we have very few large farmers who can meet the requirements asy easily, the irony of it we have seen, farmers markets increase in mississippi, but it pulls food away from school programs. it is a struggle every year to find a solution. our state agricultural department has been very helpful with that. >> i think within the confines of safety, the more options that we also provide our ag

community, other places they can send their produce to, and as you said, talking to farmers, is when they have the great moment of pride when they see they're making her own kid safe and healthy. thank you all for your efforts on this. we really appreciate it. >> i'm asking senator gillibrand to take over as chair. i'm going to be speaking -- voting on a bill and then come right back. back.r coburn is i will turn the chair over to senator gillibrand. thank you. >> thank you, madam chairman. this committee is working on the reauthorization. we want our kids to be healthy and have nutritious meals, but it is a disagreement on the flexibility needed for the scol lunch program. use the whole-grain

requirement as an example. july 1, the new requirement kicked in providing for all serial grain -- cereal grains served, they have to be 100 or send whole grains. bread, crackers, pizza crust, tocco shells, anything made with grains has to be 100%. withausher, i will start you. you represent 55,000 school nutritionists that have to deliver this program on the ground. not someone here who can say it here radical world and that's what we want, but someone who deliver that every day, deliver something that they have to eat. addressed the flexibility issue and i will come back and have a question for each of the panelists. related to the whole-grain

requirement, effective july, 100 are sent of grains have to be whole-grain rich meaning they are at least 51% whole grain. all of us are there at 50% and many are beyond that. i will be at 100 or send although there are some new items my students will be trying this semester and i hope that they like them. across the country, there seems to be that single item in most regions that some school food authorities have had a difficult time finding a product theptable, tortillas in southwest, biscuits and grits in the south, bagels in the northeast. again, i think most districts would not have any trouble probably even getting to 90% if there was at least an exemption for the culturally significant that they like.

again, the manufacturers have stepped up to really produce some great items. example, whole-grain pasta has not been a problem in my district. they are coming around on the biscuits finally -- pasta has not been a problem. they have trouble reaching products that they like through distribution. >> isn't it reasonable to allow some of these exemptions and flexibility for the requirement? if your answer is no, you are not willing to have us put flexibility in the law, then will you commit to make sure that you have 100 or send whole-grain products for every single lunch for the next year and beyond? i would like to start with ms. wiggins. >> as a card-carrying member of the school nutrition organization and having my president here makes me very proud, one of the things you have not talked about and some of the people you should maybe

have at this table are the manufacturers who have worked very hard in formulating those are whole-grain products. over the last three years, like me, they did not wait. they started right away. when i spoke to them at the school show last week. they said they support us maintaining the standards because if they have to wait, go back and reformulate that product again or change the standard again, it's going to cost me money. it. i'm committed to i have a full grain pasta. detroit, wei'm from eat all of those southern products. >> you think it is reasonable? for whole-grain products the next year will meet that requirement? >> the answer is yes. >> there should be no flexibility? the usda is very

flexible. >> what about an exception for school having trouble meeting the requirement? shouldn't there be some flexibility to allow them. we cannot get the whole-grain pasta. serve not be able to whole-grain 100% of the time. should be have flexibility or not? >> speaking for food service administrators, we just had our annual conference and speaking for the collective side, we would be happy to see some flexibility there. i think a good example is we have an official from the usda recently telling us about this great whole-grain biscuit and they realized it was a carryover from last year and it was the

white biscuit. we have an acceptable product but we worry about participation because it just does not have the same taste, texture, feel, that the regular products do. we would support some flexibilities, yes. alreadynk you've answered affirmatively unless you have something else? dr. wilson. >> we had information in our training that it means 50% whole-grain and the rest. there is some misinformation. >> 100% of what you serve has to be at that threshold. >> there is flexibility right now. posta. on there's also the ability -- i'm from wisconsin but i live in mississippi so they always tell me i need to fix the grits because they do not want to serve whole-grain grits. there is the ability to use grits in the program but it's

not counted towards the grain product. >> you think there should be flexibility? that's what i'm driving at, dr.. otherm the scientific and , i think we need to go 100 or send no exceptions. >> mr. muir. [inaudible] have 100%ld commit to grain products, at least 50% in all of your lunch is no matter where you go, no matter what you eat and you don't see that as a hardship in any way, shape, or form because you believe there should be no exceptions? >> i've been doing it in wisconsin four years ago. it's a little bit out of my expertise since i am in fruits and vegetables but i do have some experience here. cameof the school district to me two years ago and said we cannot find whole-grain flour. normal grocery

suppliers. they asked me to find it for them. we deliver it to the school district now and have been for two school years. they are proactive and after it. we look at the standards perhaps from the wrong perspective. the standards are really the minimum requirement of that we all should be meeting if we want to solve the obesity problem. therefore, i think we ought to maintain the standard and we need to redouble our efforts to work with the school district district that are struggling with whole grains. >> allow reasonable exceptions or not? >> stay the course. >> thank you. you feel you could accomplish the same thing and will over the next year, 100% of the grain product will be at least 50% whole grains? >> yes. >> thank you to the panelists. i appreciate you being here. you, ranking member, for hosting this meeting.

i'm really worried about the obesity epidemic. the food we serve to 31 million students who participate in the program is an important investment in the future of our country so i think this is invaluable. obesity statistics are staggering. one in three kids are now obese or overweight. think about that. one in three is an extraordinarily high number. we have preschools, kindergartens in new york state where 20 percent of the children entering kindergarten are obese. about lack ofue information, lack of understanding, lack of nutritional standards, access to healthy foods that we've talked about on this committee for a while. i think that's why this debate is so important. adolescents costs our country 250 $4 billion per year, $208 billion lost and

productivity. direct medical costs, and we also have staggering hunger. one in five kids live in households that struggled to put food on the table. a recent survey shows 73% of teachers report having students come to school hungry. the hot meal they get at school might be the only meal they eat that day. we need to invest in the food they eat. 92 cents that we currently invest in these free school meals is not enough. after labor and utility costs are paid, only about one dollar is invested to actual food. institute of medicine has said in order for them to be nutritious including adequate fruits and vegetables, we need to invest an additional $.35 per meal. i'm hoping other members of the committee will join me in fighting for this. i wish senator hoven had not left. of course kids like whole grains

. they like sugar even more. would you like to have sugar for lunch or fruit? they're going to pick sugar. the taste of the leavitt. love it.taste buds the men teachve them how to eat well for their whole lives and that takes leadership. it takes determination. it takes creativity. i love the fact you told your school district to pick three colors every day. when i was teaching my children about nutrition when they were 4, 5, six, how many colors can you put on your plate? they love it. because i fed them steamed vegetables as children, they only like steamed vegetables. they do not want butter or cheese. they been eating fruit at every meal since they were babies. my kids as a consequence because they have been given and introduced healthy foods at every meal, they prefer it.

for a lot of these kids, they're not getting healthy foods at home. they are getting refined carbohydrates at every meal, a burger and fries. of course they prefer it. that's what they've been fed since they were little. we have to do more. i feel, yes, it is easy to have flexibility because evil like the grits they've had since they were kids but let's not serve refined foods at lunch. let's actually push them to eat something healthy that makes them reach their full potential. when a kid is obese, he does not reach his full potential. he cannot concentrate in class. these often made fun of. he has low self-esteem. he does not reach his full potential. she does not reach her full potential. grateful that all of you have thought outside the box figuring out how to meet nutritional standards. i don't want to back off. let's figure it out.

we can figure it out. i'm worried about sna rolling back requirements. ms. bauscher, is that the goal? >> we do not want to roll back the requirements. we fully support the increased quantities and varieties of fruits and vegetables that have to be offered to our students and all of us are encouraging students to select fruits and vegetables by preparing them in attractive ways and making a wide variety available. we also support at least 50% of the grains being whole or maybe somewhere between 50% and 100%. you said it. our students are not seeing some of these foods outside of school. we also have students that go through the line that take it because they have to and then don't eat it. if they do not eat, they will go home and not have a meal, still be hungry. areids will eat if they

hungry. i don't agree. if my son got to choose a, he would choose candy and cookies but by the time it's lunchtime, he is so hungry that he will eat what i put on his plate. i don't agree that kids that are not angry -- hungry will not eat. just because it's not their favorite or it tastes funny, they're going to eat it. food, offer low-quality they will prefer low-quality food. it tastes better. we are not offering low-quality food. we are meeting the calorie requirements. we have eliminated trans fat. we're are meeting the saturated fat per climates. we are reducing the sodium. we will be on board with the target one sodium requirements july 1.t on board it's about allowing the students to catch up. you do not turn the taste runs

around on a diamond we are encouraging them to take healthy choices. >> ok. i think we need more money in this program. do you think we need more money in this program? >> yes. year'sng last authorization i supported a 35% increase in the reimbursement rate. would this help all of you achieve your goals? all of you yes? i would like you to help us do that. you are the advocates. you are the experts. we have to inform congress that $2.92 is not enough. vegetables cand be affordable as we increase access, but i can tell you when you have a low-quality vegetable, how many people would prefer steamed green beans over canned green beans? everyone. is no one who prefers canned green beans. they are one billion times more tasty and delicious.

let's focus on how we get the fresh whole food and vegetables and it costs a little more. it's cheaper to survey chicken nugget but if we could have roasted chicken or grilled chicken, it is more healthy. it does cost a little bit more. i urge you to help us achieve that goal by getting us to informing congress how important a little bit of money -- and i had a lot of other questions about equipment that i will cement for the record, but there is a grant program we had in the past that i would like to reinstitute. it's not a lot of money. $35 million in grants so they can have the equipment they need to actually serve fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean meats. it's not a lot of money. cost, theack to the cost of obesity is $200 billion per year in missed opportunity, less performing, huge drain on

the economy. the small amounts of investment have enormous returns long-term. next senator. did you go, senator bozeman? thank you very much. i appreciate you all being here and i appreciate the hard work. i was on the school board for seven years and i understand how difficult it is for those of you in the trenches. some of you have figured this out. we have a problem though because the vast majority of your colleagues have not figured it out. peopleed with a bunch of , lunch personnel, over the last year and they are very frustrated. the things i hear about are the waist, the expense, the fear of unfunded mandates which we have already, and then also kids being hungry.

that you allreat have it figured out to some extent, but a bunch of your colleagues are very, frustrated. as ms. bauscher mentioned, costs are variable. how do you handle the supply of fresh fruits and vegetables when they are out of season? >> we work with our school district in trying to help them create an annual calendar of what they can serve during certain times. we steer them away from things we are ready no like when a in theion cycle gaps price will be going up. if there is a weather event with a product and price spikes, we immediately notify our school

district that i think we need to make a sense to touche and here. program when prices are posted one week in advance it's very clear most school district are savvy to that and when they see a spike in price, they call and move away to a substitute product. we are not spending $20 for something that's normally $8. we try to do that with all of our school district. >> you source specialty and fresh products from around the world. how do you comply with the national school lunch act buy american provisions that requires purchasing domestically grown to the greatest extent possible? >> under the system that dod fresh has, favors, we are not allowed to post nondomestic items on that list. it's very regulated.

make a mistaketo there and i think we can provide a wide variety of all domestic. ms. wiggins, and whoever would like to answer, some of you have been doing this for a while. are you seeing a reduction in obesity in your children? you're absolutely right. i have been doing it for a while. i see some better eating habits. one thing we also need to consider is we need to put exercise, gym, some of those other things that burn calories. calories in and, if you don't put them out, you're going to get overweight.

aret impressed when they opting for a fresh apple opposed to potato chips. we are seeing better eating habits. do i have any them." evidence? --do i have any empirical evidence? iss plate waste everyone talking about i do not experience that much in detroit. this will help the people who are responsible in the new the levelequirements, of education, sophistication, among the people who are delivering the program are not equal. i have a business background. i understand i run if all business -- i understand i run a small business. respect the authorization of 2010 about education. thank you.

i need to let senator thune go. don't misunderstand. i'm very supportive of the program, but we do have a problem with many of your colleagues not understanding it and being frustrated. it's got to be fixed. i think the program needs to between-- be tweaked. the comments you made, ms. wiggins, is excellent because the other thing we cannot do is just focus on this. this is not the answer. you mentioned exercise and things like that. that has to be a huge part of it also. thank you very much for being here. >> senator soon. >> -- senator thune. >> thank you for sharing your insights. really important issue. it's one that most of us hear a lot about. foodards are leading to

being not eaten, standards creating a significant financial burden. i talked to teachers in my state program dakota that the has resulted in loss and even the loss of employees so they can meet financial obligations. , thereook at this issue is not a policy that should be considered a gold standard and the responsibility of this committee is that we look at the reauthorization of the support with the spirit of cooperation. they are not open to meaningful change. i want to open the question to you, ms. bauscher, with an

issue specific to my state of south dakota but i'm sure is shared around the country. schoolfrom administrators, nutritionists, food service managers about the they are having that as a particular letter from 200 pierres who attend the school. they want traditional foods part of their culture served once a month but because of the inflexibility of the new standards not able to do that, how can we work and this authorization to make sure they're receiving healthy, nutritious meals while meeting these types of requests. with otherin areas areas in the country as well. >> and school district around

the country, we are increasingly serving a very diversified population. there are over 120 languages spoken. own eating heritage is so important and we look for ways to incorporate those foods. that in theelpful 2015 reauthorization we would be let them enjoy the food of their culture in the school meal program. believe schools are getting consistent and adequate amounts and types of technical assistance in order to successfully implement and meet the current requirements? the resources have been out there for a long time. putting the cart before the

horse, in some states there is to change the requirement. it really did not make sense to run a federal program to not have any kind of educational requirement at all. it's up to the local district who should be running the program you regardless of the size. i know in some districts that are really in trouble. it's the person leading the program is not able to. the issue of standards it's really important it is you can make all the rules you want but if you don't understand how to do them, it does not help. it is too bad. we have to require it, but in some districts they do it. i work in a small rural district with only 1700 kids. away 1800throwing

gallons of milk per day so we decided to do something about it. it was because of the milk they were dumping in a bucket to throw away and that was back in the early 90's. we switched in our district and we did recess before lunch and it had a huge impact on waste. i think there are lots of anecdotal things going around. i don't think we've done any good digging into what's really occurring. as far as professional standards are concerned, we need an opportunity for people to be educated. in the nursing home situation in this country, you are required to have a registered dietitian overseer program. i'm not saying every school street needs one but the very small nursing homes in every

rural county in this country has to have somebody that comes in either once a week or once every other week that does some oversight for them. there is a way in my district is 1700, we increased the balance in my superintendent loved it because of the things that we did. back in the 1990's, putting better standards in place because i come from a nutrition background. we're just beginning this change. few years to see the outcome of us moving forward with this. >> i'm from detroit in contrary to popular belief, i have a larger middle eastern, a large middle eastern, and a few lithuanian population as well.

we do serve ethnic foods, but you can serve them healthy. just to give you an example, black people really love collard greens and a lot of fat. we've changed it since we knew how much it impacted our health, things with diabetes and being overweight, and now we can enjoy it. collardday, we have greens, sweet potato, and corn bread but they're all within the guidelines. it's not like mama's, but it's an awareness that the food can be. i guess we have a vote on. thanks to all of you for being here. thank you very much. i appreciate senator gillibrand chairing the meeting while i did go speak and vote. now we have senator klobuchar coming back to ask questions.

i do believe senator gillibrand wants to ask a second round as well. there are so many different pieces to this and we need him and input and help as we move forward in resolving challenges and supporting schools >> i mentioned in the first heard the concern i have about the amount of time children have to eat. by the time they get through the line they have five minutes. they take a couple of bites and the food goes in the trash because they do not have enough time. this gets into a broader lunchon of how we define and so on. i wonder if you can tell us about this issue of time and the impact on it, and whether or not they are engaging school boards

or local leaders to find solutions to this? is a serioust concern. in my own district, as school administrators are pressure to increase test doors -- test scores, they shave minutes off the lunch to increase instructional time. it is based on the meals served at that location. addn't have the ability to to were three people to increase the point of service and serve them quickly. we are looking at ways that we students we serve and decrease the amount of time they spend in line.

it is an issue we do address and conferences and webinars, and other types of material. it is a decision we can have influence on to educate the importance of time to eat lunch. it is an area of which we have no immediate impact. >> i appreciate that. we would like to work on actions. i know there is some desire or areas that have pilots were children are eating breakfast in the classroom, other options and so on. we have some things that we can do to help support you, and tools that relate to that. that is an important issue for students. let me just ask you, we hear so many different things depending on the school and state. kentucky, kentucky was

nearly 100% compliant with all of the standards. i want to congratulate you to being an early edge after. -- early adapter. only look at states like commit , davies county, talking about their successes in implementing the standards, and they have indicated they don't see challenges and witness for a waiver. we hear different things in different schools about what is happening. what is different in these schools from other schools? thato we help the schools are having challenges, but recognizing schools that are moving ahead? >> a lot if it comes down to the

support staff in the school nutrition program. i am fortunate i have a number of people on my staff that are assigned specific duties related to our school meal program. programe healthy hunger went into effect i have had to take one position and split that into two positions. mr. clement alluded to the complexity. i have one person who concentrates on food procurement , and assuring students have had an opportunity to sample new products. i have another person that works does all ofning and that, and takes care of dietary needs. that points to the complexity of some of this. i think more districts are better equipped to handle that.

not all schoolmen attrition directors may be equipped with skills necessary to handle the many changes that have occurred in the complexity of those changes. i will tell you a story. training notrector one ago. a small group, there was a new director there. he has been a service director for two years. he formally worked at the state us, i amt and he told so overwhelmed because he is trying to do everything himself, i focus on one thing this year and another thing next year. feeling overwhelmed in terms of trying to handle all of the changes. there have been a lot of changes in a short time. >> thank you. it will be helpful if you have the resources you need so you were having to pick.

.inally, let me ask congratulations on what you have been able to do in mississippi. very different than detroit and kentucky. seeing positive things being addressed. i know mississippi has seen a decline in childhood obesity. i know your work on healthier school meals has made a difference in children's lives, literally them living longer. you have implemented the nutrition standards for competitive foods well before the national policies were developed. i was wondering if you could talk about the successes and challenges you have had, competitive food standards, the health benefits you have seen as

a result of the changes. inwe have been fortunate many respects. we have a legislature and state board of education that are cognizant of the challenges we have had with obesity in our state. 1980's,ack as the nothing could be sold on school an hour before meal service to protect the school lunch program. beyond that, we don't have what all schools have as far as a cart. some of those have been in place for many years. addressedlegislature competitive foods again. we put in stringent vending policies that are closely aligned to the smarts next room. our school did see some loss of revenue. we have seen good things go out.

little while to get on board. there was a transition. we have been fortunate our schools have adopted that. >> thank you. >> thank you very much madam chairman. i appreciate the hearing is still going on. i think this is something that is important to all of us. it is something we care a lot about in our state. i support the healthy hungry free act and hungry free kids act. our schools are a critical partner in this effort and we have made some progress. we haven't been able to say that for a few years. we have stabilize the rate of child obesity because of the reforms that have been enacted.

we know there is work to be done. it has been acknowledged that and thatn't easy preventing childhood obesity will not happen overnight. i don't think we should be rolling back or postponing standards now. it is good to hear what people have to say. --ing from an act state agriculture state, i want to talk about the issue, which the chairwoman has been involved in, the farm to school program is a good bridge between our nations farmers and our children. according to the usda farm to school census data, minnesota school districts report spending 12% of budgets on local products. can you provide insight into how you see this practice as a long-term strategy to support kids and agricultural community?

>> i'm happy to report detroit public schools spent 20.5% of produce dollars on michigan grown produce. to developat we have supply chain. a rural school, i'm from a little farming town. i went there for a meeting. i know the local farmers who say you are in detroit now. i'm going to get my food into your schools. i said i can't. i have 131. , i had that we handle it the discipline he will i grew up with. freshy we handle getting fruits and vegetables in our school at the local level is we have to develop supply chains. we have to develop wofford is. one of the thing is the sid of michigan does when you talk about how we can help one another, we have something called an alternate agreement

whereby i can provide services to a small school district that do not have capabilities or education equipment, or the time . i provide my services. i put those districts in with the detroit public schools so when school kids get that 14 -- 14pple -- $14 sent apple, it would cost them $.40. left st. paul and the director of minneapolis yesterday. we were in a meeting trying to form a collaborative so we could create a larger market ask it and appear more attractive.

vendors and manufacturers are not giving them food. if what we can do is and ensure that my farmers don't have to plow under products that my kids could eat, -- >> one of the things we did, a study, we have seen this with local projects, people are interested in being part of something that is local. but we found in a study, there was a 3-16% increase when there was a farm to school program. there is been a supply chain issue. i have heard of this. we have to remember if we can work this out it is not only good for the kids, it increases interest and families interest in being part of this. they see it as a local community.

one more question. in your testimony, you talked about school districts that have had trouble finding acceptable foods that can meet the whole-grain food rich standards. how many schools have taken advantage of a flexibility to allow time for the industry to develop workable products? >> i do not have an answer to that question. i am talking to colleagues as recently as last week in boston. i talked to districts who intend to apply for the waiver and districts that do not have a need for the waiver, including my own. i sometimes it is districts that are close to one another. >> it will be helpful to know because there is that whenbility out there

people try to be as flexible as possible. one more question. standards,the new how do state agencies and schools determine what products will be included in the vending machines? i work hard on the vending machine issue. i care a lot about it. watching what was in the vending machines as the kids were in after school programs like she was, and what they were eating. what methods of evaluations have been used in the vending machines? policies that were very similar to the smarts next. service.e that we make the evaluation for them. they don't have to have technical skills. we have the expertise at our office. we publish a list. their online calculators now.

we encourage that. we are happy to provide that service to schools. >> thank you. >> thank you very much. thank you for presiding over the committee today. >> thank you again for holding this hearing. ofs is a vital issue because the obesity rates of children and their health and well-being. i want to continue along the started, foodtor hubs are increasingly popular, not-for-profit springing foods to underserved areas, to serving hundreds of institutions. new york city also green market and a for-profit business improving access through direct sales. hubame works with food organizations to get grants.

could you speak to the importance of food hubs? play integral role in getting locally grown produce .o schools and others the big issue of course is that a lot of these low whole -- local growers are in monochrome grower -- local growers are micro growers. in addition to nonprofit food hubs, sometimes they also have some challenges and distribution. come out beta have a successful nonprofit in our markets, but we have stepped in as a distributor to act as the local food hub in working with their school districts. we can choose local boards.

usasked as they deliver to and then we deliver out to the to 40s trying to deliver schools in one day. they are an integral part of the success of the local food program and the local school farm to school program. processes tond the assist those food hubs is important. >> to have any ideas for the committee of how we can expand that? challenges are getting access to the fresh foods from her local farmers. what our policy ideas you could offer to expand food have? we tried to use the program as aggressively as we can. do you have any thoughts? >> idol specifically.

-- i don't specifically. it is a big challenge. we need to work on that. we have to keep in perspective that the local foods are a good way to go, it is not solving all the problems. we have to keep an eye on the commercial sector and can produce lard -- large quantities. a large school district will go through a grower and say we want to use your produce. we have to put that in perspective. we continue to work with the ,ood hubs, the usda grant money to develop that system. it is a new system to all of us. >> when it gets into lines of it is incredible -- when it gets implemented it is incredible.

more than half of the money has been returned to the usda. states have now been utilizing the resources available for them. of funds are not being used, $2.5 million. dr. wilson, could you speak to what you are doing in your state to leverage these dollars to provide technical assistance to schools to meet the standards? >> the institute is a national institute. we go nationwide. we are doing technical assistance right now. it is coming from our budget, not theirs. that has been an issue. there are ways for states to contract with us. to do specific things in their state. mississippi did it. he had foundation money. we concentrated in their state ended culinary training.

california did the same thing. 10 culinary trainings all over the state. those states can use that money to put our get us spearing strainers on the ground to help them make sure that those standards are being met and there are all different topics we offer from hands-on to off-line to use those moneys. >> thank you. >> thank you very much pre-thank you to all of you. this is an important snapshot of how program is working across the country. the challenges we face. we want to work with all of you to move forward, build on best practices, support and tackle the things that we still need to tackle to make sure all schools are successful. in the bottom one we are talking muscle thing important here in terms of the health of the future of the country tackling

childhood obesity. we know that change is difficult , in this case it is well worth the effort. thank you again. working withrd to you on the reauthorization of the child nutrition plan. any question should be smit to the county clerk five business days from today. the meeting is adjourned. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] >> next, live coverage of the california governor's debate. after that, eric holder announcing a civil rights investigation into the ferguson,

missouri police department. on the next washington journal we take a look at class in america. three hours of your calls and your tweets and facebook comments. washington journal is live at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. on friday the nebraska supreme court will hear oral arguments in the to speed -- dispute of the keystone xl pipeline. live coverage from the courthouse. >> the nsa. what is it? what does it do?

extentt sshohow the full of surveillance on americans. >> it is not limited in scope to terrorist, despise, to people they have probable cause to believe they are committing a crime. it is a bulk collection of data. controversial. the early way to resolve the conflict is of congress puts this is the number one issue in 2014. >> join us next wednesday for the theme of the 2015 c-span competition. >> tonight's debate between governor jerry brown and his challenger neel kashkari is the first and likely only debate between them in this election.

dan walters of the sacramento bee, thank you for being with us. let's set about this race and the debate this evening. what will you be looking for? >> looking for any opportunity to score points on jerry brown. he is a skilled wordsmith. in his older years he has developed a short fuse. it will be interesting to see whether mr. kashkari will get him to lose his cool. >> one of the youngest governors ever. a great biography of his career in california politics. >> he is been in politics forever. very shortly about that time,

when jerry pat brown was ending, jerry brown ran for the los angeles trinity college district board and segued that. he river president in 1976. 1980.ent again in for the united states senate in 1982 and lost. then he dropped out of politics for a number of years. statee back briefly a party chairman, became a radio talkshow host. oakland inor of 1998. he won that in that capacity. then rent for attorney general -- then ran for attorney general. >> who is neel kashkari?

is a son of indian immigrants. he is a hindu, which is unusual for a republican. he is a banker by trade. he worked in wall street. he was the director of the bank bailout program under president bush and president obama. he came back to california and dabbled in banking and decided he wanted to run for governor, and roundup -- and wound up placing second. he beat out another republican to get the right to challenge jerry brown in the fall election. he doesn't have much money. but he is young, articulate. he does a lot of radio talk shows. twitter, everywhere he can to make himself visible.

interestingly, chiding jerry brown, that jerry brown hasn't done enough to relieve poverty in california. has the worst poverty situation in america. the quarter of the state is living in poverty. went underground disguised as a homeless person and spent a week in fresno experiencing the plight of the homeless and the poor, and wrote about it extensively. campaignen a guerrilla . he has little money. he put his own money into it. he is not wealthy in any super terms. but he has a few million dollars. he hopes that he can make a splash. >> california the most expensive media state in the country. how much will be spent? $30 millionwn has

in the bank. he is not going to be hurting. as everyone knows he is leading in the polls. the consensus is he is a slamdunk. something that undermines his campaign he is destined for a fourth term. .t's going to be heavy spending he doesn't like to spend money. if he doesn't have to he probably won't. there is not much else going on in california to attract big-money. it is likely to be a light spending election. and a light turnout election as well. it has some democrats worried about the downtick. >> the kashkari called for 10 debates. jerry brown said this one tonight will be the first and only debate.

>> that is in keeping with most incumbents. they don't like to debate. why give your challenger and opening to a free platform? becauseing it i presume you can't say i did debate. the date was chosen to be the opening night of professional football, which is one thing that will limit the audience. it is an interesting event but probably not a significant one. >> 10 walters joins us from sacramento. he is a columnist for the ."acramento bee you >> and now the debate between governor jerry brown and neel kashkari. governor brown served as the from 1975f california to 1983. he is ahead in the poll.

live coverage of the debate comes to us courtesy of the california channel. >> the california channel. cosponsored by kqed-tv. debate, raceornia for governor 2014. >> the first meeting of the two candidates for governor of california.

tonight, the california debate. good evening everybody. i'm john myers. i am the moderator of this one-hour debate. the two men and our studio are the only candidates, the governor jerry brown and the challenger neel kashkari . let me introduce the journalist asking questions with me. this debate is being presented by the california channel and its cable tv partners, along with kqed-tv. .he rules are very simple opening and closing statements are 60 seconds each. 90 seconds to answer a question. the other candidate is given 30 seconds for her bottle. i will step in and make sure they stick to the topics. both

candidates have agreed to the debate rules. we tossed a coin. neel kashkari won the coin toss. he chose to end the broadcast with a final statement. let's begin. our first opening statement from the incumbent. good evening. >> thank you. the messpeople forget california was in four years ago. there were a million jobs that have been lost. our budget deficit was astronomical. $27 billion. we didn't have a budget on time in 10 years. there was bickering in sacramento. $27 billion. i rolled up my sleeves and cut that budget. the legislature me one that wasn't tough enough. i sent it back. i've veto the first budget in the history of the state. it sent a powerful message.

we started doing right and making the right decisions. that budget in three years from $27 billion in the red is now in the surplus. jobs, all the jobs we lost in the recession, we got back. 1.4 million jobs. our schools, we are now increasing by 30% the funding available for the kids. >> 60 seconds. thank you. neel kashkari your statement. >> thank you. in to thefor tuning two of us rather than the packers and seahawks. governor because i want to rebuild the middle class of california. governor brown means well. his 40 years in government has left them out of touch with the struggles of working families. he has declared a governor -- a california comeback. it is not only go we have the had the best schools in

california. 46th's schools are ranked out of 50 states. we used to have a vibrant job market. today it is 44th out of 50 states. we are number one in poverty. i know we can turn this around. i didn't come from a powerful family. i was a middle-class kid. i have lived the american from because i got a good education. i was able to get a good job and work hard. we can rebuild the middle class if we work together and aim high. i got the plan and the experience to get it done. >> thank you. let's get to the questions if we can. first, this is not a surprising question. the new field goal has you 16 points behind the man beside you. if you days ago the mayor of said she republican, is not sure she is voting for you. how can you win if a prominent

republican isn't even sure you should be governor. >> i think actually is going to make a terrific comptroller. i'm going to vote for the republican ticket. we have great candidates running this cycle. she and i don't agree on everything. we have different opinions on the high-speed rail. .e don't have money it doesn't grow on trees. governor brown wants to spend $70 million on i high-speed train. as a result of that governor brown has said no, we cannot afford a school bond. republicans say we should be investing in schools. if we are spending $70 billion on the train, it crowds out the other investments. no two candidates are going to agree on everything. my commitment to the people of california, i'm going to cancel the high-speed train and invest in water in a real way. governor brown's own father led a major infrastructure investment in water around the