1. Identify any potential changes to the Texas Public School Nutrition Policy to improve service delivery, increase student wellness, increase meal participation and decrease rates of childhood obesity. 2. Determine if barriers exist to participation in the School Lunch Program, the School Breakfast Program, the After School Snack Program, and other related child nutrition programs, and make recommendations to increase participation.
3. Identify obstacles that may impact certain campuses and/or school districts from compliance (i.e. failed bond elections, facilities funding). Make recommendations to address these issues and identify ways to facilitate compliance.
4. Examine the availability of processed or prepackaged foods in school nutrition programs, including the trans fatty acid content of commonly served items. Recommend ways to further reduce trans fatty acids in school meals while minimizing cost and impacts on demand. Assess requests to make available non-fat, reduced calorie beverages in high schools.
5. Review the benefits of providing free breakfast to all public school students, regardless of income.
6. Develop methods to improve communication among food service providers, school district administrators, the Texas Department of Agriculture, parents, and students. Evaluate requiring certification for food service directors.
7. Recommend avenues for more parental and community education and outreach on nutrition issues. Explore opportunities to enhance nutrition education through the Coordinated School Health Program. Recommend any needed changes to health and physical education curriculums.
8. Assess the benefits to school districts and food service management companies of fixed meal rate and/or cost reimbursable food service management contracts.
9. Evaluate current contract approval timelines and recommend appropriate changes to align with school budget cycles.
10. Review the Texas Public School Nutrition Policy and its implementation schedule to ensure that it is a fair and equitable approach to student nutrition. TDA evaluated the original five recommendations, and issued a report responding to each one on April 18, 2008. "I appreciate the Healthy Students = Healthy Families Advisory Committee's hard work and dedication to Texans' health and nutrition," Commissioner Staples said announcing the solutions to be implemented. "Their combined efforts are top-notch results from the best nutrition minds and leaders in Texas, and the Texas Department of Agriculture is already hard at work seeing them through." That announcement went on to describe the solutions:
"Among the solutions are actions to build on the already strong TPSNP [Texas Public School Nutrition Policy]. The recommendations include the following:
- Making the TPSNP more accessible to parents and teachers through simplified language
- Promoting healthier foods and strategies to increase student wellness
- Reinforcing the TPSNP's basis on sound science
- Helping school districts overcome obstacles to compliance to the TPSNP
- Helping school districts prioritize their food service contract needs and meet contract deadlines
- Increasing a sense of ownership and buy-in into the TPSNP from parents and administrators
Among the solutions are also innovative practices. For example, the initiatives announced today call for a database of servable foods to be compiled, which will save school districts time and money."
The full text of the report on TDA's response to the first set of recommendations from the Healthy Students = Healthy Families Committee is available by clicking on this link:
Texas Department of Agriculture Response to First Set of Recommendations from the Healthy Students = Healthy Families Advisory Committee Several of the responses to the recommendations of the "Healthy Students = Healthy Families" committee correspond to information available on this Web site. The list below includes existing information relevant to the recommendations that was already on Square Meals, as well as information added since the report was published. This list will be updated as more solutions are implemented. Charge 1. Identify any potential changes to the Texas Public School Nutrition Policy to improve service delivery, increase student wellness, increase meal participation and decrease rates of childhood obesity.
Regarding the recommendation that TDA should create a companion TPSNP educational document for parents and teachers to outline their responsibilities and contribution, the report points out that several such materials are already available under the "For Parents" section of this site. Click the link below to go to that page.
Nutrition Materials and Publications
Responding to the recommendation that TDA should present the TPSNP to more and varied interest groups, the report refers interested parties to the "Resources and to Order Materials" section of this site, where they can see the schedule of events the Food and Nutrition Division participates in. Click the link below to go to that page.
Food & Nutrition Exhibit Schedule
Concerning the recommendation that TDA should increase the promotion of healthier foods, the report refers to the calendar of training opportunities available for child nutrition professionals maintained in the "For Child Nutrition Professionals" section of this site. Click the link below to go to that page.
Program and Nutrition Training
With regard to the recommendation that TDA provide strategies to increase student wellness, the report mentions training materials for USDA's HealthierUS School Challenge. This information was added under "2008 Training Connections Materials" on the "Education Service Centers" page in the "For Child Nutrition Professionals" section of this site on May 2, 2008. Click the link below to go to that page.
2008 Training Connection Materials
Regarding the recommendation that TDA should create quality and variety in the menu planning, the report points out that a list of upcoming opportunities for Menu Planning training can be found in the "For Child Nutrition Professionals" section of this site. Click the link below to go to that page.
Menu Planning Training
In response to the recommendation that TDA should identify programs that clearly make the correlation that "healthy eating plus exercise decreases obesity," that information was added to the "Resources and to Order Materials" section of this site on May 6, 2008. Click the link below to go to that page.
Cordinated School Health
Charge 3. Identify obstacles that may impact certain campuses and/or school districts from compliance (i.e. failed bond elections, facilities funding). Make recommendations to address these issues and identify ways to facilitate compliance.
The "Funding Resources" page under the "Resources and to Order Materials" section of this site was added on May 21, 2008 to address the recommendation that TDA should create a resource to publicize various grant programs available to assist school districts in obtaining funds for compliance with TPSNP. Click the link below to go to that page.
Funding Resources
The recommendation that TDA should allow compliance waivers on a campus-by-campus basis after a showing by the district of a plan for future compliance was addressed by establishing a process for applying for a waiver by July 31, 2008. Click the link below to go to that page under the "What's New" section of this site.
Requesting an Extension to Eliminate Deep-Fat Frying
Charge 10. Review the Texas Public School Nutrition Policy and its implementation schedule to ensure that it is a fair and equitable approach to student nutrition.
The Committee recommends that TDA create a new document showing only the last two years of the implementation schedule. The response report points out that a "Texas Public School Nutrition Policy at a Glance" document to show the policy guidelines that apply exists and is updated annually in the "Texas Public School Nutrition Policy" section of this site. Click the link below to go to that page.
Texas Public School Nutrition Policy at a Glance
The Committee recommends that TDA find a way to involve administrators and parents with the TPSNP so that they will feel a sense of ownership/buy-in. As a first step in addressing this recommendation, the report refers interested parties to the event schedule and materials order form available on this site, which are both in the "Resources and to Order Materials" section. Click the links below to go to those pages.
Food & Nutrition Exhibit Schedule
Ordering Food and Nutrition Marketing Materials
