Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2015

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. Chair, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I rise in opposition to the language in this bill that rolls back standards that ensure our children are being fed nutritious foods at school.

As a former State health secretary, I want to refocus this debate where I think it belongs, and that is on health. What we are really talking about here is the health of our children. More than one-third of children and adolescents are overweight or obese, and more than 2 million adolescents are prediabetic.

Mr. Chair, children who learn to eat nutritious food are more likely to continue those healthy habits as adults. The best place to teach children about healthy eating is where they spend most of their time--in school.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues concerned about the cost of nutritious food to think about the cost of obesity and malnutrition and to think about our children's future. My colleagues say that it is too hard, that children really don't like healthy foods. I agree that making change isn't easy, but we are going to have to invest some time and energy into teaching our children to make healthy choices. That is a change worth making.

I thank the gentleman from California, who has been a real leader on this issue, and I urge my colleagues to support his efforts to fix the bill.

BRhttp://thomas.loc.govEAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source