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Rep. Adams Says School Lunch Bill Harms Low-Income Children

North Carolina Representative Alma Adams has come out against a proposed school lunch bill working its way through the U.S. House. Adams and other child advocates believe the bill would be harmful to low-income children.

The bill is called the Improving Child Nutrition and Education Act of 2016. It proposes a block grant that provides states with a fixed amount of federal funding.

The bill was introduced by Rep. Todd Rokita, an Indiana Republican. He says it uses taxpayer dollars more effectively, and increases breakfast reimbursements for schools.

But opponents argue that there is no allowance for flexibility in the case of changing enrollments.

The News and Observer reports the bill is being challenged by Adams and Lynn Harvey, chief of North Carolina's child nutrition services.

Adams says the bill “fundamentally harms the program's ability to respond to changes and reduce children's needs.”

According to the School Nutrition Association, the proposed block grant pilot could mean a loss of $24 million for North Carolina.

 

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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