from RESULTS:

With the August congressional recess fast approaching, the child nutrition coalition has turned up the heat to pressure the White House to make the reauthorization bill a top priority. Advocates are rallying behind the House’s bipartisan Improving Nutrition for America’s Children Act of 2010, H.R.5504, which passed out of the House Education and Labor Committee earlier this month. The Senate passed S.3307, the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010 back in March, which makes similar improvements child nutrition programs as the House bill. The main difference is that the Senate bill only allocates half of the new funding for these programs as the House bill ($4.5 billion v. $8 billion).

Data presented last week to congressional staff by the Carsey Instiitute of the University of New Hampshire really hammers home the need to Congress to act. According to the statistics, regional and racial differences can affect a child’s well-being. For example, one in three Southern children under the age of six is growing up poor and 54 percent of young black children are growing up poor. Providing adequate and nutritious food to these and other children is a key component in helping them grow up healthy. And it will take a robust child nutrition reauthorization bill to make it happen.

TAKE ACTION: Keep the press on. Urge your representatives and senators to pressure leadership to bring the child nutrition bills to floor votes before the August recess. You can use FRAC’s toll-free number (866) 277-7617 for your calls. When calling you can say:

“My name is ____________ and I am a constituent from ________________ . I believe that no child should ever have to struggle to get food to eat. A strong reauthorization of child nutrition programs will help millions of American children get access to healthy, nutritious food all year round. Please urge Representative/Senator _____________ to support a strong child nutrition bill that allocates no less than $8 billion in new funding. Also, please urge him/her to tell House/Senate leadership to bring this bill to a vote before the August recess. Thank you for your time.”

If you cannot call, contact their offices using our online action.