ALBANY – Gov. Eliot Spitzer last month announced the Governor’s Healthy Schools Act, which would create healthier schools by improving nutrition and enabling local communities to shape school wellness policies.

“Good nutrition and healthy eating habits begin when children are young. This legislation is an important step in the fight against childhood obesity, which has reached crisis levels in the State of New York,” said Governor Spitzer.

The bill would purportedly take soda, candy, cookies and the like out of schools and put more of an emphasis on fresh fruits, vegetables and dairy products produced in New York. New York Farm Bureau members have long advocated for a prohibition against serving soda in the school system, and supported increased reimbursement funding so that school meals can be served utilizing locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables. This legislation could be a big opportunity to sell more local farm products.

New York Farm Bureau was invited to attend the Governor’s announcement of the act at the State Capitol last month. The measure could benefit New York agriculture, said Julie Suarez, director of Public Policy for Farm Bureau.

“There are a few technical issues that New York Farm Bureau needs to see addressed in the bill, but we are very supportive of the overall concepts,” she said.

Suarez said she was pleased with the inclusion of a reasonable caloric standard in the bill that will make it possible to sell flavored milks in the schools. This aspect would be critically important since 70 percent of the fluid milk consumed in the school system statewide is a 1% chocolate flavored milk.

She added that the bill allows school districts to continue the sale of whole milk at least on a temporary basis until children are more accustomed to consuming a lower fat product. School districts can incorporate such sale into the wellness plan.

Farm Bureau is also very pleased with the proposed sugar content level specifically for yogurt that permits the consumption and sale of yogurt as a healthy snack item. Upstate-Niagara Milk Cooperative sells a substantial amount of yogurt within the New York City School System; so making sure that a flavored yogurt is still an option for children was key to ensuring New York Farm Bureau’s support for this concept.

“New York apple and vegetable producers could see increased consumption of fresh and processed fruits and vegetables both in the short term and in the long term as children develop healthier eating habits. “The industry driven innovation and emphasis on added value packaging, for example, the relatively recent introduction of pre-sliced apples, could not have come at a better time to take advantage of the increased concern about childhood nutrition”, said Suarez.

The bill has received much acclaim from various education and health advocates. In detail, the Healthy Schools Act will: u Limit the types of beverages that may be served during the school day to milk, 100-percent fruit and vegetable juices; and water;

* Enhance the Department of Health’s responsibilities under the Childhood Obesity Prevention Program to include collaboration with nutrition and physical education professionals by utilizing age-appropriate measurements of body mass index (BMI) to develop a comprehensive approach to improve health and nutrition for school age children;

* Ensure that more students receive a daily breakfast by requiring districts that participate in the National School Lunch Program to establish a school breakfast program for middle and high schools;

* Require the annual development of local school wellness policies to address health and nutrition in schools and to consider expanding breakfast, lunch and recess to ensure that sufficient time is provided to eat nutritious meals and participate in physical activity.

Other agricultural groups were pleased with the bill.

“We give our compliments to Governor Spitzer. Anything that will increase the consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables at the school level should be commended. With childhood obesity and diabetes at epidemic levels, schools have to react and serve healthier food to our students. And there is no better way to do it than with fresh produce,” said Jim Allen, president of the New York Apple Association.