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The proposed rule represents an example of USDA and the Biden Administration’s commitment to supporting nutrition security through the federal nutrition programs. The updates are based on the most recent Federal nutrition guidance, Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025 (DGA), and are part of USDA’s multi-step approach to help schools recover and rebuild from the pandemic. In February 2022, USDA published a final rule that established “transitional standards” for milk, whole grains, and sodium in school years 2022-2023 and 2023-2024. The “transitional standards” allowed schools the time and support needed to build back from the pandemic. USDA expects to issue a final rule in time for schools to plan for the 2024-2025 school year. 

While concerns were raised in the past about implementation challenges related to costs, kitchen infrastructure, and taste of more nutritious school lunches, several well done studies have shown that, after updates of school nutrition standards, schools achieve high compliance, healthy meals do not cost more, kids like and eat the meals the same or more, and food waste does not increase from pre- to post-implementation. We are confident these updated guidelines will further improve school meal participation and increase nutrition security for kids, and look forward to submitting a formal response to the USDA’s proposed rule, supporting the alignment of meal standards with the most current edition of the DGA.

Statement from Task Force Co-chair Ambassador Ertharin Cousin, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Food Systems for the Future; Former Executive Director, World Food Programme

“Inequities in accessing affordable, nutritious food have always existed, but the pandemic helped peel back what was hiding in plain sight – that millions of students are not getting enough healthy, nutrient-rich food to eat. We know where the investments are needed in our food system – one of them being our public schools – so, I applaud USDA for responding with actions that we know will result in improved health and educational outcomes for our nation’s youth and remain committed to supporting a whole-of-society approach to realizing a future free of hunger and malnutrition.” 

Statement from Task Force Co-chair Senator Bill Frist, Former Majority Leader of the United States Senate; Global Board Vice-Chair, The Nature Conservancy; Senior Fellow, Bipartisan Policy Center; Adjunct Professor of Surgery, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Department of Cardiac Surgery

“Prioritizing and strengthening our school nutrition guidelines is a tremendous step forward in improving health and educational outcomes. These modernized standards will ensure better, more equitable access to nutritious meals. The science is clear: better eating habits – especially when starting young – will lead to long-lasting improvement in our bodies and our minds.”

Statement from Task Force Co-chair Secretary Dan Glickman, Distinguished Fellow of the Center on Global Food and Agriculture, Chicago Council on Global Affairs; Senior Fellow, Bipartisan Policy Center; Former United States Secretary of Agriculture

“Students who don’t have access to nutritious foods often suffer academic consequences and see lower achievement in school. With the proper diet, students experience increased academic performance. We know that healthy, nutritious foods help nourish the body and brains of America’s future leaders — that’s why we stand ready to support all stakeholders involved in the process towards achieving these crucial school nutrition guidelines.”

Statement from Task Force Co-chair Dean Dariush Mozaffarian, Dean for Policy and Jean Mayer Professor of Nutrition, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University; Professor of Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine and Division of Cardiology, Tufts Medical Center

“Lack of good nutrition is the number one driver of poor health in the U.S. – and our youth are no exception. One in four of American teens have overweight or obesity, and one in four have prediabetes. Past updates to school nutrition standards were incredibly successful, increasing healthfulness and improving nutrition equity. But, 1 in 4 school meals remain of poor nutritional quality. With three of my children in public schools, it’s time for the next phase of improvements so our children receive the high quality, nutritious foods they need to learn and thrive. I congratulate USDA for this important update and look forward to supporting this process.”

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About the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University

The Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University is a leading U.S. institution focused on education, research, and public impact around the food system, from soil to society. The School’s five divisions and additional centers and institutes are renowned for the application of scientific evidence to national and international policy. Tufts University, located on campuses in Boston, Medford/Somerville, and Grafton, Massachusetts, and in Talloires, France, is recognized among the premier teaching and research universities in the U.S.  Learn more at nutrition.tufts.edu/

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Today’s hearing comes in the wake of September’s historic White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health. “Food as Medicine” — a framework of food-based interventions integrated into the health care system to prevent and treat disease – was a critical topic at the Conference. These interventions have documented, significant improvements in health outcomes and health care utilization, with evidence for cost-effectiveness — and even net cost savings in some circumstances — and have rapidly gained interest among health care providers, health systems, payers, and patients as potential tools to improve clinical care for diet-related illness, especially for patients experiencing food and nutrition insecurity.

As part of September’s Conference, the Biden-Harris administration released the National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health. The strategy includes key actions discussed at today’s hearing to build a future where “Food as Medicine” programs — such as medically tailored meals, medically tailored groceries, and produce prescriptions — are covered benefits for targeted populations. 

Statement from Task Force Co-chair Ambassador Ertharin Cousin, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Food Systems for the Future; Former Executive Director, World Food Programme

“Today, the leading cause of death and disability in the U.S. is diet-related disease — and people of color and those of lower socioeconomic status disproportionately bear the burdens of chronic, deadly conditions like cardiovascular disease and diabetes. But we can change that. We’re beginning to engage in a multisector dialogue around the idea of food as medicine; of nutritious food as a prescription for both improving health and preventing disease from taking root in the first place. On the heels of the historic White House Conference on Hunger, I thank Senators Booker and Braun for understanding that healthy food is essential to good health, and I remain hopeful that through a whole-of-society approach we can leverage the power of affordable and nutritious food to remediate hunger and improve people’s health.” 

Statement from Task Force Co-chair Secretary Dan Glickman, Distinguished Fellow of the Center on Global Food and Agriculture, Chicago Council on Global Affairs; Senior Fellow, Bipartisan Policy Center; Former United States Secretary of Agriculture

“The relationship between what we eat and how it affects our health and mortality is clear. This hearing is critically important to demonstrating how what we eat can have a huge impact in keeping us healthy, and reducing the fastest growing part of the federal budget — Medicare and Medicaid payments for chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and some cancers.” 

Statement from Task Force Co-chair Senator Bill Frist, Former Majority Leader of the United States Senate; Global Board Chair, The Nature Conservancy; Senior Fellow, Bipartisan Policy Center; Adjunct Professor of Surgery, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Department of Cardiac Surgery

“Food is medicine, and it is time we start using it as such. Today’s hearing highlighted the progress and potential for food as medicine services in not only promoting nutrition but in promoting health and reducing the prevalence of diet-related disorders. Nutritious foods are a critical and necessary component of health and wellness, and we could see great benefit from more seamlessly integrating nutrition and food services within our health care sector.”

Statement from Task Force Co-chair Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, Dean for Policy and Jean Mayer Professor of Nutrition, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University; Professor of Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine and Division of Cardiology, Tufts Medical Center

“One of the most exciting innovations in health care is food as medicine: integrating food-based interventions into health care to prevent and treat disease. I applaud Senators Booker and Braun for their vision to hold today’s hearing. Interventions like medically tailored meals and produce prescriptions, combined with nutrition education for doctors and coverage for dietitian counseling, could make a real difference in the 550,000 annual deaths and 1.1 trillion dollars in annual healthcare spending and lost productivity due to poor diet. With the new National Strategy and dedicated bipartisan champions, we have a historic opportunity to catalyze these solutions and begin to reduce the crushing health, equity, and economic burdens of diet-related diseases.”

The Task Force’s efforts are supported by the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, with funding from the Bia-Echo Foundation, HAND Foundation, Seeding the Future Foundation, Kaiser Permanente Fund at East Bay Community Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation. 

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About the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University

The Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University is a leading U.S. institution focused on education, research, and public impact around the food system, from soil to society. The School’s five divisions and additional centers and institutes are renowned for the application of scientific evidence to national and international policy. Tufts University, located on campuses in Boston, Medford/Somerville, and Grafton, Massachusetts, and in Talloires, France, is recognized among the premier teaching and research universities in the U.S. Learn more at nutrition.tufts.edu/

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The convening, Food Industry Collective: Commitments in Action, held in Washington, D.C. at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, featured panel discussions with key U.S. food and nutrition sector leaders, hunger and nutrition advocates, health care professionals, and scientists on the ways industry can be more innovative and ambitious to help achieve these goals.

“Gathering around the table today with so many food and nutrition partners is a testament to our shared vision of providing all Americans with equitable access to healthy food to lower the likelihood of diet-related diseases like diabetes, obesity, and hypertension,” said Leslie Sarasin, president and CEO of FMI – The Food Industry Association and Co-chair of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Food and Nutrition Security Task Force. “Working together, we are committed to bringing leaders from across the food industry, government, and communities together to accomplish these goals.”

Experts presented existing food sector commitments and opportunities and challenges for additional innovative solutions and actions that could be scaled for greater impact. This included consideration of new multi-sector collaborations and achievable outcomes via panel and small group discussions, strategies to formalize commitments, and ways to work with the Biden Administration and Congress on the national goals in 2023 and beyond.

In partnership with Sarasin, Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, Jean Mayer Professor of Nutrition at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, provided opening remarks and presented on a panel around the role of investors in driving positive change. Mozaffarian also serves as a Co-chair of the Task Force on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health – a nongovernment, nonpartisan group of subject matter experts and multi-sector leaders that has worked to help inform the National Strategy. Mozaffarian emphasized the potential for this historic moment in time to inspire and energize diverse stakeholders in the food sector – farmers, manufacturers, retailers, restaurants, investors, and wellness companies – to up their game to help advance the directives laid out in the National Strategy.

“The White House Conference made clear that we are facing a national food crisis — harming our health, families, communities, economy, natural resources, and national security,” said Mozaffarian. “I am hopeful that, with concerted attention, action, and accountability, we can work together to create a healthier, more equitable, and more sustainable food system for all.”

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About FMI

As The Food Industry Association, FMI works with and on behalf of the entire industry to advance a safer, healthier and more efficient consumer food supply chain. FMI brings together a wide range of members across the value chain — from retailers that sell to consumers, to producers that supply food and other products, as well as the wide variety of companies providing critical services — to amplify the collective work of the industry.

About the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University

The Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University is a leading U.S. institution focused on education, research, and public impact around the food system, from soil to society. The School’s five divisions and additional centers and institutes are renowned for the application of scientific evidence to national and international policy. Tufts University, located on campuses in Boston, Medford/Somerville, and Grafton, Massachusetts, and in Talloires, France, is recognized among the premier teaching and research universities in the U.S. Learn more at nutrition.tufts.edu.

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