What is CNR? The Child Nutrition Act Reauthorization ("CNR") authorizes federal school meal and child nutrition programs including the National School Lunch Program, the School Breakfast Program, and the Child and Adult Care Food Program, among others. The package of bills that make up CNR is meant to be reauthorized every five years, but the last CNR to pass was the Health, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. That makes this upcoming CNR a once-in-a-decade opportunity to strengthen the programs that feed our nation's kids.

We believe that building the next CNR on these six shared community values will move us closer to a just, equitable food system that promotes the health of all school children and benefits producers, workers, educators, and their communities:

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  Economic justice: Farm to school and ECE isn’t just about food miles, it’s about the livelihoods of the people who grew, harvested, processed, and prepared this food. We have the chance to build relationships between producers, workers, and consumers in ways that enrich communities and address economic racial injustices.
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  Environmental justice: Education and the purchasing power of meal programs can shift our food system away from practices that contribute to climate change and pollute communities of color, and towards a more equitable, sustainable use of our soil and water.
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  Health impact: Farm to school and ECE activities go beyond getting kids the calories they need, but also give them the tools for childhood nourishment and lifelong health. In addition to key nutrients provided by school meals, kids should be empowered with the knowledge and skills to build healthy habits later in life and increase their sovereignty in our food system. School nutrition professionals should receive the equipment, training, and operational support to increase whole-ingredient, scratch cooking of healthier and tasty meals.
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  Prioritizing racial equity: Progress towards a just food system requires us to address the historic and ongoing structural racism embedded in our food system and to actively promote food sovereignty and racial equity in farm to school and ECE activities.

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  Respecting workers and educators: School nutrition professionals play essential roles in promoting fresh, healthy foods for our kids. The workers who harvest, process, transport, prepare and serve the vast majority of our nation’s food supply deserve -- but don’t currently have -- the same legal protections as workers in other industries in our country. Policies and practices should respect their rights and value their work appropriately.
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  Animal welfare: Humane treatment of animals in food production is a key part of a respectful, relational – not extractive – food system. Inhumane conditions in meat and poultry production are intertwined with the corporate consolidation of our food system, and the prioritization of cheaply produced meat at the expense of animal welfare, worker safety, farmer livelihoods, and community health.

In order for these values to be realized, it is important that the most impacted stakeholders in our communities have a core role in the development and implementation of the next CNR.

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  Triple funding and ensure equitable access to the successful USDA Farm to School Grant Program with the Farm to School Act of 2021. Learn more here.
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  Increase immediate opportunities for local- and values-based procurement by supporting: 
  - The Kids Eat Local Act, which would make it easier for schools to source local food for school meals. Learn more here.
  - The Local School Foods Expansion Act which gives schools in 14 states more flexibility to purchase more fresh, local, unprocessed or minimally processed fruit and vegetables for school meals through expanding the successful Unprocessed Fruit and Vegetable Pilot Program.
  - The Small Farm to School Act, which would create a federal pilot of local procurement incentives that give school meal programs more resources to shift to local producers.
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  Expand scratch cooking training and infrastructure by supporting:
  - The Scratch Cooked Meals for Students Act, which would provide grant funding for culinary training and technical assistance, kitchen equipment, and infrastructure, prioritizing grants to school districts with a high percentage of students receiving free and reduced-price lunch and districts with labor agreements. Learn more here.
  - The School Food Modernization Act, which would provide the funding needed for schools to upgrade their kitchen equipment. Learn more here.
  
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  Support our littlest eaters and their early care and education (ECE) providers with improvements to the Child and Adult Care Food Program, including:
  - The Early Childhood Nutrition Improvement Act, which would streamline administrative burdens for providers, making it easier for them to participate in CACFP. Learn more here.
  - The Access to Healthy Food for Young Children Act, which would increase access to CACFP for kids in day care homes and provide funding for an additional meal or snack on long days. Learn more here.
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  Recognize the right of every child to nourishing meals by supporting the Universal School Meals Program Act of 2021 to make school breakfasts and lunches free for all children. Learn more here.