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The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

School Lunch Improvements Proposed

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Wednesday, February 3, 2016   

FRANKFORT, Ky. - A bipartisan bill in the U.S. Senate would reauthorize child nutrition programs, including the national school lunch and breakfast programs, for the next five years. Among the changes is funding for more kitchen equipment to enable staff to prepare freshly-cooked meals for students.

Claire DiMattina, executive director of the group Food Policy Action, says this comes after a trend of school districts centralizing their food preparation and using frozen meals and vegetables.

"Because we're talking about serving fresh fruits and vegetables, and heart-healthy meals and meals with less sodium, and some of those things you just can't serve if you don't have a place to prepare them," says DiMattina.

The legislation would require that 80 percent of grains served in schools are whole-grain enriched and that less sodium is used in foods. It also would double funding for the Farm to School Grant Program.

Steve Muntz, a farmer in Montgomery County, is executive director of the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group, which helps farmers in 13 states produce locally-grown food. He says farm-to-school efforts are gaining traction in Kentucky.

"It is a win-win because the schools are getting some better food," says Muntz. "Kids are starting to learn about growing food. It's a little bit of a challenge for farmers to sell directly to schools because sometimes it's a wholesale market and you really have to be able to ramp up your production."

The bill would also expand summer meal programs, which DiMattina says would have a direct impact on children.

"For a lot of those kids, these are one or two of the only healthy, nutritious and hopefully delicious meals they're having every day," she says. "So, it's important that we're providing meals that are healthy, that they want to eat, that are providing the necessary nutrients."

The former "Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act" that went into effect in 2010 has been criticized for encouraging a menu of foods many children won't eat. This bill is the reauthorization of that legislation, with changes.


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