Better Nutrition and Health for Children Act of 1994

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Title I: Amendments to National School Lunch Act

Title II: Amendments to Child Nutrition Act of 1966

Title III: Miscellaneous Provisions

Title IV: Effective Date

Healthy Meals for Healthy Americans Act of 1994 - Amends the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (CNA) and the National School Lunch Act (NSLA) to revise and reauthorize child nutrition programs.

Expresses the sense of the Congress regarding child nutrition programs' full funding for needy children, administrative streamlining, and coordination of nutrition education.

Title I: Amendments to National School Lunch Act - Amends NSLA to allow schools which purchase an equivalent amount of fresh fruits and vegetables elsewhere to refuse some or all of the fresh fruits and vegetables offered through the commodity distribution program and to receive other commodities in lieu of them.

(Sec. 102) Directs the Secretary to deliver, to each State participating in the school lunch program, commodities valued at the total authorized level of assistance for each school year by September 30 of the following school year.

(Sec. 103) Directs the Secretary of Agriculture (the Secretary) to ensure that at least 12 percent of the cash and commodity assistance provided to schools for the national school lunch program be in the form of commodities.

(Sec. 104) Authorizes the Secretary to enter into an agreement with a State agency under which certain funds payable to the State may be used by the Secretary to purchase commodities for use in the school lunch program.

(Sec. 105) Directs the Secretary to provide technical assistance to schools and other entities to ensure compliance with nutritional requirements under the school lunch program, summer food service program for children, and child and adult care food programs.

(Sec. 106) Requires that minimum nutritional requirements be based, at a minimum, on the weekly average nutrient content.

Requires that students who participate in school breakfast and lunch programs and their parents be informed of nutritional content and consistency of such meals with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

Directs the Secretary to provide a notification to the Congress that justifies the need for certain production records and describes reduction of paperwork relating to the school breakfast and lunch programs.

(Sec. 107) Requires schools to offer a variety of fluid milk, consistent with prior year demonstrated preferences, removing the requirement that there be a choice of both whole milk and unflavored lowfat milk. Directs the Secretary to purchase for the NSLA school lunch program and the CNA school breakfast program lowfat cheese on a bid basis in a quantity that is the milkfat equivalent of the milkfat quantity the Commodity Credit Corporation will purchase each year as a result of the elimination of the requirement that schools offer both whole and lowfat milk.

(Sec. 108) Sets certain limits on the use of free and reduced price meal eligibility information. Allows its use with respect to certain other types of Federal, State, and local programs.

(Sec. 109) Makes Head Start participants automatically eligible for school meals and the child and adult care food program under NSLA.

(Sec. 110) Allows SEAs to use resources provided through the CNA nutrition education and training program for training to improve the quality and acceptance of school meals under CNA and NSLA.

(Sec. 111) Revises provisions for special assistance payments and reapplications for schools electing to serve all children free lunches or breakfasts.

(Sec. 112) Sets forth procedures relating to filing of reimbursement claims.

Requires negotiated rulemaking before issuance of regulations for nutritional and compliance requirements.

Permits States and local school food authorities to request waivers of certain requirements from the Secretary, in order to improve program operation.

(Sec. 113) Directs the Secretary to award annual grants to a private nonprofit organization or educational institution in each of three States to create food and nutrition projects fully integrated with elementary school curricula. Authorizes appropriations.

(Sec. 114) Revises and reauthorizes the summer food service program for children. Establishes priorities for determining participation of certain eligible service institutions. Eliminates: (1) the one-year waiting period for participation of private nonprofit organizations replacing school or government sponsors; and (2) the warning in private nonprofit organization applications relating to criminal provisions and related matters. Extends such program's authorization of appropriations. Directs the Secretary to identify Federal funds that may be available from other Federal agencies for service institutions under such program to carry out all-day educational and recreational activities for children at the feeding sites.

(Sec. 115) Reauthorizes the commodity distribution program. Directs the Secretary to: (1) improve overall nutritional quality of entitlement commodities provided in schools; and (2) require that nutritional content information labels be placed on packages or shipments of such entitlement commodities or otherwise provide such information.

(Sec. 116) Revises and reauthorizes the child and adult care food program. Provides for automatic eligibility of certain Even Start program participants. Extends reapplication intervals to three years. Allows use of administrative funds to conduct outreach and recruitment to unlicensed day care homes. Directs the Secretary to instruct States to provide, through sponsor organizations, information and training concerning child health and development to family and group day care homes in the program. Reauthorizes two statewide pilot projects under such program. Provides for dissemination of information on the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children (WIC) in connection with such program.

(Sec. 117) Expands and makes permanent the homeless children nutrition program, for projects to provide food service throughout the year to homeless children under the age of six in emergency shelters. Directs the Secretary to develop a plan to incorporate such program into the child and adult care food program. Authorizes appropriations.

(Sec. 118) Makes permanent the authorization for existing cash or commodity letter of credit sites.

Directs the Secretary to establish a demonstration program of grants to eligible institutions or schools to provide meals and supplements to adolescents participating in activities outside of school hours.

Establishes pilot programs, under the school breakfast and lunch programs, to increase: (1) use of fortified fluid milk, including an information program; (2) offerings of fruits, vegetables, legumes, cereals, and grain-based products; and (3) consumption of low-fat dairy products and lean meats and poultry products.

Directs the Secretary to make grants to a limited number of schools to conduct pilot projects in two or more States to: (1) reduce paperwork; (2) reduce application and meal counting requirements; and (3) increase parental participation in the school lunch and school breakfast programs. Authorizes appropriations.

(Sec. 119) Includes families of children participating in child nutrition programs among those whom paperwork burden reduction is designed to help.

(Sec. 120) Requires that specified activities be conducted with assistance for the food service management institute. Extends the authorization of appropriations for the food service management institute.

(Sec. 121) Extends the authorization of appropriations for certain compliance and accountability activities.

(Sec. 122) Adds duties of the Secretary relating to nonprocurement debarment under certain child nutrition programs, in order to deter fraud, bid rigging, and other anticompetitive activities.

(Sec. 123) Directs the Secretary to enter into a contract with a nongovernmental organization for an information clearinghouse for nongovernmental groups that assist low-income individuals or communities with food assistance or self-help or other empowering activities. Authorizes appropriations.

(Sec. 124) Directs the Secretary to: (1) develop and approve guidances for accommodating the medical and special dietary needs of children with disabilities under covered programs in a manner consistent with the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; and (2) make competitive grants to SEAs to distribute to eligible entities to help cover nonrecurring expenses incurred in accommodating such needs in such manner. Authorizes appropriations.

(Sec. 125) Directs the Comptroller General to study, and report to specified congressional committees on, the costs and problems associated with the sale of adulterated fruit juice and juice products under the school lunch and breakfast programs.

Title II: Amendments to Child Nutrition Act of 1966 - Amends CNA to require that minimum nutritional requirements be measured by not less than the weekly average of the nutrient content of school breakfasts.

Directs the Secretary to: (1) provide technical assistance to schools to comply with nutritional requirements under the school breakfast program and to provide appropriate meals to children with special dietary needs; and (2) promote the school breakfast program.

Reauthorizes, permanently, the school breakfast startup grant program.

Allows a portion of startup program funds to be used for school breakfast program expansion grants.

(Sec. 202) Reauthorizes the State administrative expenses program. Sets forth procedures for withholding of funds and a requirement that States participate in studies.

(Sec. 203) Directs the Secretary to develop model language that bans the sale of competitive foods of minimal nutritional value anywhere on elementary school grounds before the end of the last lunch period. Requires the Secretary to provide through State agencies: (1) such model language to elementary schools; and (2) to secondary schools, copies of regulations concerning such sale.

(Sec. 204) Revises and reauthorizes the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children (WIC). (Changes the word "food" to "nutrition" in such program's name.)

Includes alcoholism and drug abuse under nutritional risk factors.

Directs the Secretary to promote the WIC program.

Provides presumptive WIC eligibility for certain pregnant women.

Provides for coordination of WIC and Medicaid programs using managed care providers.

Gives priority consideration to certain migrant populations.

Allows State agencies to implement WIC and Medicaid income eligibility guidelines concurrently.

Allows recovered funds to be used in the year collected.

Directs the Secretary and the Secretary of Health and Human Services to carry out a coordination initiative for the WIC and Medicaid programs.

Extends the authorization of appropriations for the WIC program.

Allows use of funds for technical assistance and research evaluation projects.

Provides for funding WIC breastfeeding promotion and support activities according to a specified formula. Requires development of standards for collection of breastfeeding data among program participants.

Requires submission of information to the Congress on waivers with respect to procurement of infant formula to be on a timely basis, rather than at six-month intervals.

Sets forth cost containment provisions.

Repeals the termination of authority under the WIC Infant Formula Procurement Act of 1992.

Provides that a State will not incur interest liability to the Federal Government on rebate funds for infant formula and other foods if all such interest is used for program purposes.

Directs the Secretary to use a portion of certain funds, which are unspent for nutrition services and administration, for program infrastructure development, special State projects to improve program services, and special breastfeeding support and promotion projects.

Revises certain provisions relating to spendback funds. Eliminates certain duplicative reports on migrants.

Directs the Secretary and the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish and carry out an initiative to provide WIC program services at community and migrant health centers.

Revises and expands the WIC farmers' market nutrition program. Authorizes the Secretary to negotiate lower matching funds with Indian State agencies. Allows a portion of funds to be used for market development or technical assistance in areas where WIC program participants have limited access to locally grown fruits and vegetables. Provides for continued funding for certain States. Revises provisions for minimum amount of grants (increased), plan submission, and data collection. Revises the percentage of annual appropriations available to States. Extends the authorization of appropriations for the coupon program. Eliminates a funding carryover provision. Eliminates reallocation of unexpended funds of demonstration projects. Directs the Secretary to promote use of farmers' markets by recipients of Federal nutrition programs.

(Sec. 205) Revises and reauthorizes the nutrition education and training program. Adds to authorized uses of program funds. Revises provisions for State coordinators for nutrition and for State plans. Extends the authorization of appropriations for such program. Allows States two years in which to obligate each fiscal year's funds.

Title III: Miscellaneous Provisions - Directs the Secretary to consolidate the school lunch program and the school breakfast program into a comprehensive meal program.

(Sec. 302) Directs the Comptroller General and the Director of the Office of Technology Assessment to study and report to specified congressional committees on the use of private food establishments and caterers under the school lunch and school breakfast programs.

(Sec. 303) Amends the Commodity Distribution Reform Act and WIC Amendments of 1987 to require recipient agencies in the State of Hawaii to comply with certain Buy American provisions only with respect to the purchase of pineapples.

(Sec. 304) Directs the Comptroller General to study and report to specified congressional committees on the incidence and effect of States restricting or prohibiting a legally contracted commercial entity from physically combining federally donated and inspected meat or poultry with that from another State.

Title IV: Effective Dates - Sets forth effective dates.