First of all, I just want to state how happy I am that Congress finally stepped up and made an effort toward giving school foodservice operators the money they need to make school meals healthier. The $4.5 billion pledged over 10 years may not solve all of the problems operators face, but it certainly is a start.
The bill, of course, is not perfect, and the School Nutrition Association already has gone on the record as acknowledging that it will monitor implementation of the legislation, particularly its approval of the use of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to offset the cost of the reauthorization. But that is, we hope, a relatively minor point of contention.
But the title of the bill itself bothers me. Politicians, it seems, have fallen in love with superlatives, and this bill is the latest example. It has been labeled the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. Another well-known example is the No Child Left Behind Act, signed into law in 2001 by George W. Bush.
Ideals are admirable, but eminently unattainable. We all would love to eradicate poverty, eliminate hunger, clean up the environment and bring about world peace. But we know in our hearts that it will never occur.
That is not to say we shouldn’t try. But when a legislative body like Congress puts a label on something, voters—silly people that we are—expect that “goal” to be achieved. Politicians do it all the time, and get elected because of it. Then they fail to hit the mark, and voters castigate them for it. Sometimes (although not nearly often enough) we vote them out of office because of it. And the media certainly have their way with “broken” promises.
Why can’t politicians get into the habit of setting attainable goals, and then build on those goals? My boss asks that of me, and I ask it of my staff. Foodservice directors do likewise. Incumbent legislators and candidates for public office shoot for the moon, and inevitably fall short. The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act will miss its titled goal, as well. Still, I hope and pray that this is one ideal we can come pretty darn close to achieving.