Food & Nutrition [Volume 9, Number 5]

              How the
District Issues
Food Stamps
The District of Columbia has made
some changes in the way it issues
food stamps. Changes include spe­cial
steps to help the elderly and
handicapped. Page 14
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PROPERTY Of 1\-\E
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Handicapped
Children Learn
About Food
Nutriduck
Is My Name ...
School
Breakfast
PTA Members
Plan Projects
In 20 States
QC\ 15 \919_
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Umvers~t Greensboro
Three articles tell how people are
tailoring nutrition education to the
special needs of children who are
mentally retarded or physically
handicapped. Page 2
A nutritionist with the Memphis City
School System has found a delight­ful
way to "get the nutrition mes­sage"
across to young children .
Page 7
Two articles on school breakfast
explain current efforts to reach
more schools. New regulations
make it easier for many schools to
get the extra help they need. Page 8
Parents and teachers will be taking
a close look at school food services
this year, as a result of a coopera­tive
agreement between the PTA
and USDA. Page 13
We'd like to hear from
you ....
If your job is getting food help to
families, or nutritious meals to
kids, you've got a lot in common
with the other readers of FOOD
AND NUTRITION.
Do you have any ideas you'd
like to share? Comments on our
articles, or suggestions? Maybe
you've found answers to problems
other people are working on.
We'd like to hear from you. Write
and tell us what you're doing-or
what people you know are
doing--so others can benefit from
your experiences.
Tell us how you use the maga­zine,
how you think we can im­prove
it, what articles you find
most useful and interesting.
We cannot publish or personally
answer every letter we receive,
but we'll read them all and print as
many as we can.
We're looking forward to hearing
from you.
Write to: Editor,
FOOD AND NUTRITION MAGAZINE
Office of Legislative Affairs
and Public Information
Food and Nutrition Service
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Washington, D.C. 20250
2 Food and Nutrition
Handicapped
Children Learn
About Food
A Memphis
project tests
approaches
and materials
"The foods we want to discuss
today are breads and cereals. Breads
and cereals are important because
they give us energy. All of us need
energy to work and play. How many
of you had toast for breakfast?"
At first glance, it's just another
class on nutrition-the teacher
showing slides and talking about
food, the children baking bran muffins
and tasting grain products.
But, this class is special, because
the children are. Their I.Q's are far
below average. And because of this,
they're the focus of a project, funded
by the Food and Nutrition Service, to
develop nutrition education for men­tally
retarded youngsters.
At a center
in Memphis
This project is taking place at the
University of Tennessee's Child De­velopment
Center in Memphis. The
center-a government-funded and
university-affiliated institution-trains
professionals from a variety of fields
to work in an interdisciplinary way
with developmentally handicapped
children. These are children who are
physically handicapped, mentally re­tarded,
or both.
Part of this training takes place in a
demonstration school which is
housed in the center. And this school
is the setting for the project.
Three classes are involved in the
study. One class has mildly retarded
children, with I.Q.'s ranging from 50
to 70, while another has moderately
retarded children, with I.Q.'s of 30 to
50. A larger class of kindergarten
children of average intelligence
serves as the control group. Although
the children in the first two classes
are older than the children in the
control group, all three classes are at
about the same level of mental de­velopment.
October 1979
The youngsters are being taught
four nutrition units on meats, breads
and cereals, fruits and vegetables,
and milk products. The objectives are
to teach recognition of the foods, their
origin and nutritional contribution to
the diet, and the number of servings
that should be eaten daily.
son on each of the four subjects. In
addition, she provides the regular
classroom teachers with material for
supplemental lessons on the same
topics, and sends letters to parents
suggesting activities to do at home.
Lessons
Virginia Johnson, a graduate stu­are
tested
dent who's employed as project coor­dinator,
plans and teaches one les-
The effectiveness of the lessons is
being measured through verbal tests
' ' Nutrition education for the mentally retarded is very pos­sible.
You might have to work a little harder to teach them,
but you know you're teaching them something they really
need to learn. ' '
3
and a plate-waste study.
A series of pre- and post-tests are
used to determine the children's pre­vious
knowledge, as well as their
comprehension and retention of les­son
material. Johnson tests the chil­dren
individually, using food models
and pictures.
"Some of the children cannot
communicate very well verbally, so I
have to ask them to point to answers
rather than say them," she explained.
The plate waste study is designed
to measure the actual impact of the
lessons on the children's eating
habits. On days designated for test­ing,
trays and milk cartons are
labeled with the children's names and
weighed both before and after lunch.
The food service staff helped work
out the details of the plate waste
study, and conducted a number of
trial runs before the project began.
And, since the Child Development
Center is interdisciplinary, the nutri­tion
staff got help from the psychol­ogy
and special education depart­ments
in designing the lessons
and tests.
Dr. Mary Ann Smith, project direc­tor
and chief of nutrition at the center,
explained the philosophy behind the
project. "Although much attention is
now focused on nutrition education
for the normal child," she said, "little
or no attention is being given to the
handicapped.
"Developmentally disabled children
have the same nutritional needs as
normal children, as well as additional
needs. For example, the incidence of
underweight in these children is three
times as high as in normal children.
Therefore, we have to pay more at­tention
to their intake of calories, as
well as other nutrients."
As these children are "main­streamed"
into regular classrooms,
Dr. Smith noted, the need becomes
even greater for nutrition education
materials that can be used by regular
4
classroom teachers when working
with the handicapped.
Staff offers
suggestions
The results of this study will be
published when the project is com­pleted,
and made available to the
public. In the meantime, the center's
staff offered some suggestions for
those teaching nutrition to retarded
youngsters:
• Let the children experience
things for themselves as much as
possible. Plan activities that allow
them to use all their senses.
• Limit the amount of lecturing you
do, and present material in as enter­taining
a manner as possible.
• Try to teach all material on the
level of the learner.
• Overplan activities, and then be
flexible.
• Use repetition as a teaching tool.
As Virginia Johnson said, "Nutrition
education for the mentally retarded is
very possible. You might have to
work a little harder to teach them, but
you know you're teaching them
something they really need to learn."
by Linda Klein
Food and Nutrition
A Washington
teacher uses
USDA foods as
teaching tool
Many teachers and nutritionists are
independently exploring ways to
teach handicapped children about
food and its importance to health.
Gale Forrest is one of those
teachers. A special education teacher
in Marysville, Washington, Forrest
last year developed a series of les­sons
on food and nutrition for stu­dents
with learning disabilities or be­havior
problems.
Using USDA-donated foods as
teaching tools, she helped her stu­dents
link sounds and sights with
concepts, and careful work with
good-and tasty-results. Students
helped choose recipes, mix foods,
and prepare their own afternoon
snacks.
Forrest worked with two groups of
about a dozen students each in
grades 1 through 5. She met with her
classes for 3 hours each day, and
they cooked once a week during the
last hour on Friday. She said the chil­dren
were excited about the activity
and looked forward to it. Many of
them had not been motivated by reg­ular
classroom activities.
Satisfying
in many ways
During the week, students chose a
recipe. If there were ingredients
needed in addition to the USDA­donated
foods, children would vol­unteer
to bring them from home.
On the day they actually cooked,
students began by copying the recipe
from the blackboard. This gave them
a chance to practice their writing
skills and to make something to take
to their parents-along with a sample
of the finished product.
"One to eat and one to take home
became a general rule," Forrest said.
"Somehow it was more fun than
showing paperwork to mom.
"Children want to take something
October 1979
' ' We chose foods that are good for you. The children
learned that a snack doesn't need to be sweet to be good.
It worked best to make things that could be completed in our
classroom so we made nobake cookies, celery stuffed with
peanut butter, and popcorn served with orange juice.''
home from school that will be ad­mired
and approved of," she con­tinued.
"For some of these children,
that satisfaction is just too rare."
Forrest used food preparation to
reinforce arithmetic and reading as
well as writing skills. "Each child got
a chance to measure, mix, and spoon
out," she explained.
The children were learning social
skills, too. "Five children worked with
me, and five with an aide," Forrest
said. "They each had their tasks, and
they saw that everybody working to­gether
made something nice happen
for the group.
"Some of our children had been too
disruptive for a regular classroom.
But even when gooey batter seemed
to invite disaster, they all followed di­rections,"
she added.
Learned
about food
Forrest said the practical experi­ence
of planning and food prepara­tion
taught the children a lot and cor­rected
a number of misconceptions
they had.
"Some of the children had thought
cookies only come off a store shelf,"
she said, citing one example. "It was
good for them to start with basic in­gredients
and end up with a home­made
product.
"We chose foods that are good for
you. The children learned that a
snack doesn't need to be sweet to be
good. It worked best to make things
that could be completed in our class­room
so we made no-bake cookies,
celery stuffed with peanut butter, and
popcorn served with orange juice."
This year, Forrest's schedule does
not lend itself to classroom cooking,
but she plans to renew the project
when there is an opportunity.
"A friend of mine who teaches kin­dergarten
used the same idea with
her class," Forrest said. "But she
added an extra touch that I like. She
had the children put together a cook-book
from the recipes they tested."
Asked about the benefits to stu- ·
dents, Forrest said: "The rewards
were immediate. That means a lot to
children who have been discouraged
about learning.
"I can't say any child became a
better reader as a direct result. But
the project made my students hap­pier,
more motivated and more self­confident
and those are usually steps
toward better grades.
"The food was good. The experi­ence
was good. And we all had a
good time."
by Wini Scheffler
Children at
a residential
center learn
some new skills
Four children are gathered around
a table. Two are in wheelchairs, and
one is propped up in a small bed.
Only one is seated in a regular chair.
They listen attentively as their
teacher explains a picture recipe for
peanut butter-raisin toast.
These children, who are both
physically handicapped and moder:
ately to severely mentally retarded
5
are students at the Georgia Retarda­tion
Center. The center is a residen­tial
facility for the mentally retarded,
serving primarily children and teen­agers.
Located on the outskirts of
Atlanta, the center provides treatment
for youngsters from 47 counties in the
northern portion of the State.
Peggy Frazier, a registered dieti­tian,
works part-time at the center,
teaching two food classes a week.
Each class is made up of four stu­dents,
whose chronological ages
range from 8 to 13.
Identification
is the focus
"Originally I was going to teach
'nutrition,' but I found that it was im­possible
to teach, say, the vitamin C
' ' ... Most of these children have been institutionalized all
of their lives. All they know is that food is served on a tray,
from a food cart, and prepared in the institution's kitchen.''
6
content of an orange when the chil­dren
could not even identify an
orange," she explained.
"So food identification is the big
thing that I teach now-mainly be­cause
most of these students have
been institutionalized all of their lives.
All they know is that food is served on
a tray, from a food cart, and prepared
in the institution's kitchen.
She also teaches them certain
basic skills, such as spreading, cut­ting,
mixing, and pouring. And she
emphasizes safety in the kitchen.
Because of their multiple handi­caps,
Frazier explained, these chil­dren
will probably never be able to
live on their own. But, she added, she
would like them to be able to return to
their families knowing how to do
some simple things for themselves­preparing
cheese toast and other
snacks, for example.
Introduces
new foods
Frazier teaches her classes in a
room that used to be part of an
apartment for houseparents. She has
a refrigerator and sink, but since the
stove isn't connected, she cooks with
a toaster, a toaster oven, or a hot
plate. Each month she spends about
$12 on supplies.
Most of her classes involve either
cooking or watching a movie. When
the class cooks, she tries to let the
children taste the raw foods, as well
as the finished product. And she tries
to introduce a new food at least every
other week. "If I feel it's a worthwhile
experience, I will repeat the class
about every 3 months," she noted.
When working with mentally re­tarded
youngsters, Frazier said, it's
important to gauge your expectations
to the level of the children's develop­ment.
"You have to repeat things.
And you have to learn to measure
success in inches rather than miles."
"But I find teaching these children
very satisfying. They're cooperative,
and they seem to enjoy almost ev-erything
you plan." D
by Linda Klein
Food and Nutrition
Nutriduck
Is My Name ...
Who has orange panty hose, yellow
wings, tail feathers, felt-covered flip­pers,
a papier-mache head and is an
expert in nutrition? The answer is
"Nutriduck!"
You may not know Nutriduck, but
Memphis elementary schoolchildren
do. He visits their schools to teach
them about nutrition and food.
This knowledgeable bird is part of
the Memphis City School System's
nutrition information program. Under­neath
the costume is Helen Burke, a
nutritionist with the school system
and coordinator of its nutrition
program.
Burke visits schools carrying a
case full of charts, films and other
information tools. When she meets
with high school students, she leaves
her costume behind. But with
elementary school students, she al­ways
poses as Nutriduck.
Gets children
interested
Burke created Nutriduck last Oc­tober,
she said, when she needed
something to help get the nutrition
message across. "Since children pay
more attention to characters, we tried
to think of one they could iclentify
with. We came up with Nutriduck. The
children's response has been really
fantastic.
"Some third and fourth grade
classes actually helped me make
Nutriduck's papier-mache head. I
made the rest of the costume myself.
"The students are eager to learn
about food so they can evaluate their
own diets to see what they may be
lacking."
"Hands on"
experience
Students get "hands on" experi­ence
through the nutrition course.
Food service employees at the
schools show students how to pre­pare
food and plan nutritional meals,
and they explain the importance of
October 1979
sanitation in cooking areas.
The food service people use the
National School Lunch Program meal
patterns as examples of nutritionally
balanced meals. They hold tasting
parties, also, to introduce students to
new foods.
In addition to developing the nutri­tion
course, Burke also coordinates
nutrition workshops for teachers and
school food service people. Schools
from neighboring counties and private
schools have asked Burke to help
coordinate their nutrition programs.
For more information, contact:
Helen Burke
Nutrition Resource Specialist
Memphis City Schools
2597 Avery Street, Room 120
Memphis, Tennessee 38112
by Marilyn Stackhouse
' ' On school visits, my les­sons
include consumer hints
on food bargains, information
on healthy diets, tips on
reading food labels for nu­trient
content, and good eat­ing
habits. The lessons vary
from school to school, ac­cording
to age groups, and
they reflect what parents,
teachers, and school food
service people determine as
the nutritional needs of
children in each particular
school.''
7
Many Schools
Can Get Extra
Breakfast Aid
"If we can help one child learn,
the breakfast program is worthwhile,"
says Enfield, Connecticut, school
food service director Eleanor
McDaniels.
If every one felt the way Eleanor
McDaniels does, starting the day
would be a lot easier-and a lot more
productive-for millions of American
schoolchildren.
It's hard to say exactly how many
millions of children go to school with­out
the benefit of a nourishing morn­ing
meal to give them the energy they
need to learn effectively. According
to recent USDA estimates, there are
more than 13 million children who
qualify for free or reduced price
meals on the basis of family income.
Because of their families' tight budg­ets,
many of these children may be
coming to school without eating
breakfast.
For millions of other children,
money may not be a problem, but
hectic early morning routines may be.
Many students travel long distances
to school and don't have time to eat
or aren't hungry before they leave
home. In families where both parents
work, the demands of early-to-work
schedules can make preparing
breakfast difficult-or impossible.
Some parents have to leave for work
very early, and even though they may
want to eat breakfast with their chil­dren,
they can't.
Schools can
serve breakfast
For the last 12 years, through the
School Breakfast Program, Federal
money has been available to help
schools serve breakfast to students
who, for one reason or another, don't
eat breakfast at home.
Thousands of schools are now get­ting
this aid, which is provided by the
U.S. Department of Agriculture
through State Departments of Educa­tion.
But, despite the availability of
the program to all schools and wide­spread
need, the number of schools
participating remains low.
In contrast to the approximately
94,500 schools taking part in the Na­tional
School Lunch Program, only
30,500 schools take part in the
School Breakfast Program. Whereas
44.5 million children have access to
lunch at school, only 14 million have
access to breakfast at school. And,
while almost 25 million children par­ticipate
in the lunch program, only 3
million eat breakfast at school.
Breakfast is a simple meal to pre-
pare and serve-in fact, it's a whole
lot easier than lunch. The breakfast
program costs less to operate than
the lunch program, and application
procedures are the same.
While there are differences in the
amounts of reimbursement, the un­derlying
principle is the same:
schools get reimbursed for every
meal they serve, and the rates are
higher for meals served free or at re-duced
price to qualifying children.
Moreover, because average reim­bursement
levels are adjusted twice a
year to reflect changes in the Con­sumer
Price Index, schools can be
assured that reimbursement rates will
keep pace with any increases in the
costs of preparing and serving food.
So, why don't more schools join?
Part of the answer is attitude, says
Margaret Glavin, national director of
the school breakfast program. Com­mitment
to the breakfast program is a
matter of philosophies. There's been
a lot of resistance to the idea of
schools serving breakfast.
When you add to this philosophical
resistance, questions about staffing,
budgeting, and scheduling, there can
be powerful obstacles to overcome in
starting a breakfast program.
The obstacles are by no means
insurmountable-ask any parent or
school administrator who's success­fully
worked to get breakfast started
in a local school. But overcoming
them does require careful planning.
Documenting need, anticipating
A basic school breakfast
includes at least: a serving
of fruit, vegetable or juice;
milk; and bread or cereal.
Many schools also include
a serving of meat or meat
alternate, such as cheese,
eggs, or peanut butter.
problems and solutions, and re­searching
available resources are
important steps.
Recent changes
should help
This year the Food and Nutrition
Service has been working on regula­tory
changes which should help ex­pand
and improve the breakfast pro­gram.
The new regulations extend
eligibility for extra Federal funds
to many schools with severe need
for breakfast programs.
Although the term "severe need" is
new to breakfast program regula­tions,
the practice of offering extra
funds to schools as an incentive to
join the program is not new. Since its
inception, the school breakfast pro­gram
has included various financial
incentives to encourage schools to
participate. "Especially needy"
schools, as they were previously
known, have always been entitled to
extra Federal funds to offset the cost
of preparing and serving breakfast.
Despite this fact, these funds have
not been widely used. During the
1978-79 school year for example,
only 28 States actually paid the addi­tional
"especially needy" funds to
some of their breakfast schools. In
several of these States, only a hand­ful
of schools received the funds.
Why use has
been limited
There are several reasons why the
use of these funds has been limited.
And it is these reasons the "severe •
need" regulations address.
First, before the 1979-80 school
year, States set their own eligibilty
standards for "especially needy"
schools within broad FNS guidelines.
10
Some States established restrictive
standards that only a small number of
schools could meet.
The "severe need" regulations set
new minimum national eligibility
standards for the extra funds. States
may establish more flexible or lenient
standards, but not more stringent
standards.
Second, in the past, there has been
some confusion about the entitlement
nature of these extra funds, particu­larly
on the part of State and local
administrators. In the National School
Lunch Program, States are paid a set
rate, or "national average payment,"
for each free, reduced-price, or full­price
lunch served in their State. In
order to pay one or more school dis­tricts
an above-average rate, State's
must pay other school districts a
below-average rate.
Apparently, administrators have
assumed that the same system works
in the breakfast program. It doesn't
though. States receive two separate
payments in the breakfast program.
They get a set rate, or "national av­erage
payment," for each free,
reduced-price, and full-price break­fast
served in regular schools. In ad­dition,
they get a second, higher set
rate for all "severe need" schools.
This means they can pay severe
need rates to one school district with­out
having to pay less to another
school district.
Confusion
compounded
The confusion has been com­pounded
by the use of the term
"especially needy" in both the
breakfast program and the food
service equipment assistance pro­gram.
The equipment assistance pro­gram
provides funds to local school
districts to offset the cost of items­such
as ranges, refrigerators, milk
coolers, and toasters-used in the
lunch or breakfast program.
Within broad USDA guidelines,
each State sets standards specifying
which schools are eligible for "espe­cially
needy" equipment funding. This
designation entitles a school to up to
1 00-percent funding of its equipment
costs, rather than the up to 75 per­cent
schools usually receive. How­ever,
since States' equipment monies
are limited, paying one school 100
percent of its costs reduces the
money available for other schools.
Again, the payment of "severe
need" funds in the breakfast program
does not work this way. And one of
the reasons for changing the term
"especially needy" to "severe need"
was to avoid confusion with the
equipment program.
Determining
"severe need"
The new regulations set minimum
standards for determining which
schools qualify for extra funding be­cause
of severe need. According to
these national standards, schools are
entitled to "severe need" funds if
regular reimbursement is insufficient
to cover their breakfast program
costs and if:
1) They are required by State law to
run a breakfast program, or
2) They serve 40 percent of more of
their lunches free or at a reduced
price. Schools without lunch pro­grams
may use breakfast participa­tion
figures to qualify for "severe
need" funds. And schools without
either breakfast or lunch programs
may estimate their free and
reduced-price participation rates.
States can alter the national stand­ards
so that additional schools be­come
eligible for the extra funds, but
they cannot deny these funds to any
schools eligible under national stand­ards.
For example, a State could set
a standard extending eligibility to
schools serving 10 percent of their
lunches free or at reduced price. It
could not, on the other hand, set a
standard requiring schools to be
serving 50 percent of their lunches
free or at reduced price.
Food and Nutrition
Accounting
is easier
In addition to making more schools
eligible for "severe need" money, the
new regulations also make it easier
for school districts to get this money
by eliminating some accounting pro­cedures.
To get "severe need" money under
the old system, districts had to docu­ment
individual school costs and the
percentages of children receiving free
and reduced-price meals. Now,
breakfast costs can be figured on a
districtwide rather than a school-by- ·
school basis, even though eligibility
for the extra funds is still determined
on a school-by-school basis.
This is expected to be especially
helpful for school districts with cen­tralized
accounting systems, particu­larly
those with a combination of se-
October 1979
vere need and non-severe need
t schools. These districts will now be
able to get "severe need" money
without keeping separate cost rec­ords
on their "severe need" schools.
Here's how the new system works.
In figuring payments to a district, the
State calculates both :
1. The district's costs of operating
the breakfast program in a// schools
minus money collected from full- and
reduced-price breakfasts.
2. The maximum reimbursement
available to all schools in the district.
This is figured by: multiplying the
number of breakfasts served in "se­vere
need" schools by the "severe
need" reimbursement rates; multi­plying
the number of breakfasts
served in other schools by the regular
reimbursement rates; and then add­ing
these two totals.
The State pays the district the
lesser of these two amounts.
For more
information
For more information on the na­tional
"severe need" standards,
contact the School Programs Divi­sion,
Food and Nutrition Service,
Washington, DC. 20250. For more
information on eligibility in a particu­lar
State, contact the State Depart­ment
of Education.
Remember, State Departments of
Education may set standards which
are more flexible than the national
standards. So schools which do not
qualify under the national standards
may still qualify under their State's
standards.
Also, some schools may now be
serving basic breakfasts-like cereal,
juice, and milk-and operating their
breakfast programs within the regular
reimbursement. If these schools meet
their State's requirement for free and
reduced-price meal participation, or
are required to offer breakfast under
State law, they may be able to get
"severe need" money to improve
their programs-by adding protein­rich
foods and occasional hot break­fasts,
for example.
The new breakfast regulations
were published in the Federal Reg­ister
August 17. Copies are available
from the School Programs Division,
Food and Nutrition Service, U.S. De­partment
of Agriculture, Washington,
DC. 20250. D
11
Expansion of the breakfast pro­gram
"is not the result of a magic
process," said Assistant Secretary of
Agriculture Carol Tucker Foreman,
speaking at the National School
Breakfast Coalition Conference in
March.
"I know of no 'open sesames' or
magic wands that will brush away the
'breakfast is a family affair' syndrome
or dispel the lingering nightmare of a
national nanny in Washington, D.C.,
dictating today what Johnny and
Mary will eat tomorrow in Iowa
City.
"You and I know all too well
there is no magic-that expanding
the breakfast program will take the
combined efforts of all of us at Fed­eral,
State and local levels.
Let's combine
our efforts
Federal-State-local cooperation is
the nucleus around which USDA's
breakfast outreach efforts revolve this
year. Nineteen States have agreed to
work with USDA's Food and Nutrition
Service as well as community groups
on a variety of efforts to expand
breakfast participation. FNS regional
staffs are involved in a number of
projects-from conducting detailed
feasibility studies on breakfast, to
workshops for State personnel, to
public information campaigns
planned in conjunction with the
States. For example:
In New England. FNS staff mem­bers
are providing information and
assistance to prospective school
breakfast support groups-including
State associations of elementary and
secondary school principals, school
board members, school adminis­trators
and the Catholic Education
Association. They have also de­veloped
a breakfast video-tape, "A
Break for Learning," and worked with
the New Hampshire Bread and Law
Task Force on a school breakfast
slide show.
In the Mid-Atlantic States. FNS is
working with the Pennsylvania De-
12
partment of Education and the Pitts­burgh
school district on a feasibility
study of ways to start breakfast pro­grams
in Pittsburgh. The staff is also
distributing posters and other mate­rials.
In the Mountain Plains States.
The FNS staff is working with the
State education commissioners and
school officials in Nebraska and Utah
to publicize and expand breakfast
programs.
In the Western States. The FNS
staff has developed extensive
breakfast outreach plans with Oregon
and Washington. In Oregon, FNS
assisted in developing a statewide
steering committee that will advise
the State on breakfast outreach. The
committee includes health profes­sionals,
community activists, and
school administrators as well as FNS
representatives.
In addition to targeting States for
special outreach efforts, the Depart­ment
of Agriculture has awarded
$230,000 in grants for the develop­ment
of outreach projects which can
be used as models for future efforts
at Federal, State, and local levels.
A variety
of efforts
The Department is also moving on
the national level to promote break­fast.
FNS is working with the Depart­ment
of Health, Education and Wel­fare
(HEW) to encourage Title I
schools to offer breakfast. Title I is
designed to expand and improve
elementary and secondary school
programs for educationally deprived
children, often those in need of
school breakfast programs.
To make sure school adminis­trators
are aware of the breakfast
program, the Department of Agri­culture
is planning to send a letter,
signed by Agriculture Secretary Bob
Bergland and H.E.W. Secretary
Patricia Harris, explaining how
schools can take part.
At the same time, the Agriculture
Department is contacting national
organizations-such as the American
Dental Association, the National As­sociation
of State Boards of Educa­tion,
and the National Association of
Pupil Personnel Administrators-and
enlisting their support.
The Department is also spreading
the word on breakfast through a vari­ety
of media including magazines,
newspapers and radio. Radio spots
offer breakfast endorsements from
such nationally known celebrities as:
actress Rita Moreno, comedian Rod­ney
Dangerfield, television star
Gabriel Kaplan, basketball star Julius
"Dr. J" Erving of the Philadelphia
76'ers, and singer-dancer-actress
Leslie Uggams, who won acclaim re­cently
for her role in the television
production of "Roots."
Catalogue
of materials
Since many States and community
groups have produced a wealth of
materials on school breakfast, the
Department is producing a catalogue
of these materials. The catalogue will
be available this year. D
by Dianne D. Jenkins
Food and Nutrition
PTA Members
Plan Projects
In 20 States
This is the month when thousands
of parents traditionally join their chil­dren
for lunch at school. Each fall,
schools across the country invite par­ents,
teachers, and community lead­ers
to come and help celebrate Na­tional
School Lunch Week.
But this year's celebration will take
on added meaning for parents and
teachers in 20 States, for by October
they will already have become par­ticularly
involved in school food serv­ice.
Under a cooperative agreement
between the National PTA and the
Food and Nutrition Service, they are
looking closely into what children
eat at school and how they learn
about food.
The agreement's eventual aim is to
show PTA members proven paths to
better nutrition programs through stu­dent,
parent, and community in­volvement.
It was born out of a series
of brainstorming meetings which
began when the PTA, anxious to help
improve school meal programs, came
to the Food and Nutrition Service for
suggestions. Together, the PTA
and FNS created a joint task
force, which, in turn came up with a
proposal for a joint campaign.
Campaign has
three parts
Three major stages of work, two of
which are already completed, are
provided for. The first was to notify all
PTA chapters of the effort. Chapters
could apply to take part by proposing
ways in which they could improve
meal quality and expand lunch and
breakfast programs.
The second was to choose 20
States for model projects, on the
basis of past success or innovative
October 1979
proposals. The States selected are:
New Mexico, Oklahoma, Alaska,
Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Arizona,
Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota,
Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina,
Tennessee, Connecticut, New Hamp­shire,
New Jersey, New York, Michi­gan,
and Ohio.
The third stage, pending comple­tion
of the projects, will be to dis­seminate
the results to the Associa­tion's
entire membership of 6.5 mil­lion
people.
"We are providing the funds and
technical advice and the PTA is pro­viding
the volunteers to do the work,"
Assistant Secretary of Agriculture
Carol Tucker Foreman explained.
"The PTA model projects will be in­valuable,"
she said, speaking before
the National PTA convention in Mil­waukee,
"in improving meal quality,
enhancing the lunch environment, re­ducing
plate waste, and increasing
student participation."
Parent-school
cooperation
In addition to inviting States to pro­pose
projects for funding under the
agreement, the task force asked
States to describe notable actual in­stances
of parent-school cooperation.
Positive responses ranged from a
school which rejoined the lunch pro­gram
after a joint analysis by the fac­ulty
and the student body showed it
was needed and could be well run, to
several schools which curtailed sales
of minimally nutritious foods.
Some schools increased food
choices, decreased the use of sugar,
and sought student advice on menus,
food preparation, and cleanup.
Others established breakfast pro­grams
and onsite meal preparation.
"The Federal Government," Fore­man
said in her address, "can and
does provide cash and food assist-ance
... But only you, and people
like you ... know, or can learn, how
food is prepared and served; whether
the children have enough time to eat;
and whether the lunchroom is condu-cive
to eating .... The PTA is solidly
rooted at the local level, and is re­spected
at every level. That is why I
am so very pleased that you will be
working with us and speaking with a
louder voice on child nutrition."
PTA leaders
enthusiastic
The agreement was signed in May
by then National PTA President
Grace Baisinger. Her successor, Vir­ginia
Sparling, recently elected to that
office, reaffirmed the organization's
keen interest: "In view of the National
PTA's historical concern with proper
nutrition for children, we believe we
have made a significant move in
joining forces with the U.S. Depart­ment
of Agriculture for a major cam­paign
to improve and expand child
nutrition programs in the public
schools.
"We are particularly enthusiastic
about participating in this project be­cause
of the direct benefits that will
accrue to children throughout the
country in terms of better quality
breakfast and lunch programs, and
improved nutrition. This project also
offers a rare opportunity to adults,
students, and the PTA to have a di­rect
impact on such an important and
pervasive program."
Will publish
a brochure
Agriculture Department funding for
the State projects will continue until
April 1980, when analysis of the re­sults
will commence. The conclu­sions,
to be sent to all PTA members
in the form of a brochure, are ex­pected
next summer.
For more information, contact:
Shirley B. Walker
Food and Nutrition Project Coor­dinator,
National PTA
700 N. Rush Street
Chicago, Illinois 60611
Telephone: 312-787-0977
by Chris lf.ocsis
13
How the
District Issues
Food Stamps
"I think it's very, very nice," said an
elderly food stamp participant, talking
about the new way she gets her food
stamps. "You don't have to go out,
and it's so hard for me to get places,
you know.
"Before, it would take right much
time, the way I have to get around.
There were a couple of times I had to
pay somebody-! paid the man $3 to
take me to get my food stamps."
This past April, the District of Co­lumbia
took some steps to make it
easier for food stamp clients to get
their stamps and to encourage banks
and other institutions to join the pro­gram
as issuance agents.
As a result of a special project,
over 1 ,000 elderly and handicapped
people can now pick up their food
stamps in the public housing com­plexes
where they live. Before, in
spite of the special difficulties they
have getting around, they had to
make their way to issuance
centers located in various parts of
the city.
According to District officials, the
pilot project is expected to be ex­panded
to all city housing projects for
elderly and handicapped people by
the end of the year.
In addition to the pilot project, the
District is staggering issuance of food
stamps to all other clients to cut down
on waiting time and reduce lines in
banks and other issuance centers.
"We're making these changes,"
says Albert Russo, director of the
District's Department of Human Re­sources,
"because we want to make
it possible for all eligible people to
obtain their food stamps as conve­niently
as possible."
These District residents are among the many
elderly people who get their food stamps in
the housing complexes where they live.
14
Clients had
long waits
"We were concerned because
clients have had to stand in long
waiting lines in all kinds of weather,"
says Grady Williams, bureau chief of
payments and collections. "This
placed severe hardships on the el­derly,
of course. In addition to having
to travel long distances from their
homes, they had to stand in the rain
and cold," he says. To some extent,
Williams feels, this discouraged
people from participating.
"It's still a bit early to tell what kind
of increase there will be in participa­tion,
but it seems safe to say there
will be an increase," says Williams.
While participation in the District is al­ready
high-an estimated 85 percent
of all eligible people-Williams hopes
that with the elimination of the pur-
Food and Nutrition
chase requirement and easier access
to food stamp issuance sites, partici­pation
will come close to 1 00 percent
of those eligible.
Part of the District's effort to im­prove
service involves staggering the
issuance of food stamps over the first
5 working days of every month. Pre­viously,
everyone went to get their
stamps on the same day.
"You could walk by the food stamp
distribution centers and see long lines
of people-extending for blocks
sometimes," says Williams.
New system
should help
Long lines at the first of the month
were not only a hardship for clients,
but posed a real problem for banks
and institutions issuing stamps. Be­fore
staggered issuance, one bank
October 1979
had pulled out of the program, others
were threatening to do the same, and
savings and loans institutions were
reluctant to join.
"Banks and issuance offices are
taking another look at the system
now," says Muriel Yaeger, director of
outreach in the District. "The one
bank that had withdrawn from the
system will be coming back into the
program because of staggered is­suance,
and many savings and loans
institutions are now expressing inter­est
in joining."
Williams says the 1977 food stamp
law has made it easier for institutions
to issue food stamps. Because the
law eliminated the requirement that
participants purchase part of their
food stamp allotments, issuance
agents now handle fewer food stamp
coupons and no cash at all.
"It certainly makes it easier from
the standpoint of security," says Wil­liams,
explaining that the elimination
of the purchase requirement has also
helped the District arrange for food
stamp issuance in housing projects.
"The reluctance that some vendors
had is no longer there because they
are no longer handling cash and
aren't readily exposed to the threat of
robbery."
Security is
not a problem
Security at the housing projects
hasn't been a problem, according to
Williams. The building manager dis­tributes
the stamps from specially
constructed "cages" as a security
guard looks on. Each manager re­ceives
5 hours training on issuing
stamps and security precautions.
Norman Bush, director of issuance
for the District, visited several hous­ing
projects when the pilot project
went into operation. "The clients were
happy," he says, "everyone seems to
be happy." The new system "works
beautifully." D
by Dianne D. Jenkins
' ' We were concerned be­cause
clients have had to
stand in long waiting lines in
all kinds of weather. This
placed severe hardships on
the elderly, of course. In addi­tion
to having to travel long
distances from their homes,
they had to stand in the rain
and cold.''
15
UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
Division of Public Documents. Wash~nglcn . D.C. 20402
Official Business
Penalty for Private Use. $300
Published six times a year by the
Food and Nutrition Service, U.S. De­partment
of Agriculture, Washington,
D.C. 20250.
Bob Bergland
Secretary of Agriculture
Carol Tucker Foreman
Assistant Secretary of Agriculture
Bob Greenstein
Administrator
Food and Nutrition Service
Jan Kern, Editor
Jan Proctor, Art Director
Yearly subscription: $5.00 domestic,
$6.25 foreign. Single copies: 85 cents
domestic, $1.10 foreign. Send sub­scription
orders to: Superintendent
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The Secretary of Agriculture has de­termined
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by law of this Department. The use of
funds for printing this publication was
approved by the Director of the Office
of Management and Budget Nov­ember
2, 1978.
Prints of photos may be obtained
from Photo Library, U.S. Department
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