Lunch Program

Maryland has 30,000 more poor children who qualify for the federal school lunch program this school year compared with last year, a result of the recession and a push by Baltimore to get parents to sign up, according to a report by Advocates for Children and Youth. City schools have signed up more than 9,000 new students for free and reduced-price meals, which means the district will receive more financial benefits from the state. Maryland gives local school systems additional money for every poor student in their schools.

My daughter Arielle had her first day of kindergarten last week. Parents were invited to stay in the classroom through circle time. As I sat cross-legged next to my wife on our portion of the magic circle, I listened to morning announcements with a renewed sense of interest - not as a parent, but as a food marketer. I have spent a good portion of the past 13 years working with manufacturers to sell food and beverage products into school lunch programs. And while I'm well versed in federal and state guidelines, including "bread equivalents," whole grain requirements, commodity programs and menu cycles, I have not looked at school lunch from the vantage point of the gatekeeper audience: parents.

Joining fellow Democrats defending the nation's school lunch program, Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin sat down with students to sample cafeteria cuisine yesterday and said Republican attempts to reduce the program were unpalatable.At a small round table at Owings Mills Elementary School, he ate tacos and Mexican corn with six students and pronounced the meal delicious."This guy taught me how to eat it right," Mr. Cardin said, pointing across the table at J. P. McGee, a fifth-grader who said he relies on the school lunches.

Maryland has 30,000 more poor children who qualify for the federal school lunch program this school year compared with last year, a result of the recession and a push by Baltimore to get parents to sign up, according to a report by Advocates for Children and Youth. City schools have signed up more than 9,000 new students for free and reduced-price meals, which means the district will receive more financial benefits from the state. Maryland gives local school systems additional money for every poor student in their schools.

Every day, Principal Laura D'Anna takes to the intercom airwaves of Patterson High School with all of the melodramatic inflection she can muster. "Guess what is coming?" she asks. "Pizza Party!"Everyone connected with the school from parents to staff members will munch pizza, get a free T-shirt and listen to a disc jockey if poor students can get their parents to fill out an application for free and reduced-price school lunches.What D'Anna is really keen on has nothing to do with mozzarella, tomatoes and dough, but rather technology that will give her students access to the Internet.

THIS ASSAULT on America's children will be stopped," declared Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont. Vermont's governor, Howard Dean, was even more strident: This is "the most despicable, mean-spirited legislative proposal I have seen in all my years of public service," he told the New York Times. "Children will go hungry."What they are talking about is the plan, by the Republican majority in Congress, to make changes in the way the school lunch program is administered.Here is an issue tailor-made for Democrats and the interest groups they represent.

Harry N. Rosenfield, 83, who helped create the federal school lunch program in 1946, then supervised the resettlement of European refugees in the United States, died Friday at his home in Washington.In 1946, as the chief assistant to the administrator of the Federal Security Agency, a precursor of the Department of Health and Human Services, he helped draft the legislation that created the school lunch program.Two years later, after serving as delegate to the U.N. Economic and Social Council in Geneva, President Harry S. Truman named him commissioner of the Displaced Persons Commission, which was responsible for supervising the admission and resettlement of refugees after World War II.By the time the commission expired four years later, he and a staff of 2,500 had helped bring more than 500,000 refugees to the United States.

They call themselves the Dream Team.A loose coalition of government workers and children's advocates, they are united by their dream of making a difference for families living in the public housing projects.Representatives from the Anne Arundel Housing Authority, the Department of Recreation and Parks and county government met last week tomap strategies for new services."I think there's a lot of good this group can do," said Karen Michalec, the county's coordinator of social services, who dubbed the informal committee the "Dream Team."

The parents were angry -- and they let the Baltimore school board know it.The target of their ire: a change in the way the city distributes federal aid to disadvantaged children.Speakers at an emotional hearing last night blasted a change due to go into effect in September that would make it tougher for elementary schools to qualify for federal Chapter I aid.The parents questioned the logic of requiring that more students at a particular school be eligible for the free lunch program to qualify that school for Chapter I aid."

25 years ago (week of Oct. 3-9, 1971):It was announced that Howard County residents would be able to buy flood insurance, at federally subsidized rates, from local insurance agents under the emergency flood insurance program. Howard qualified for the subsidy by agreeing to adopt control measures for future construction that would minimize flood damage.50 years ago (week of Sept. 29-Oct. 5, 1946):The Howard County Council of PTAs met in the Savage Community Hall. The group was addressed by Mrs. Gertrude Bowie from the state Department of Education.

The Commission for Women will hold its 20th annual Women's History Month Luncheon from 12:15 p.m. to 3 p.m. March 7 at Richlin Ballroom, 1700 Van Bibber Road, Edgewood. Harford County District Judges Mimi R. Cooper and Angela M. Eaves will present "Through the Eyes of Her Honors," a discussion of the District Court of Maryland and its agencies. Tickets for the luncheon, which includes a hot buffet, are $22 and must be purchased by Feb. 23. Information: 410-638-3117.

With millions of dollars in federal and state funds at stake, the city school system is planning an aggressive push to increase enrollment in a program that provides students with free and reduced-price meals. The bottom line is more than a free lunch: Just as the census count helps determine funding levels for local jurisdictions, enrollment in the free- and reduced-price meal program is used by educators to determine how much aid a school system gets. Schools officials have been stymied in getting middle- and high-schoolers to enroll in the program, which is a measure of poverty, in part because of the stigma associated with being poor.

THE FOOD that children eat in school cafeterias should meet cleanliness standards at least as high as those of McDonald's and other fast-food chains. That's why the U.S. Department of Agriculture must establish safety standards for the 125 million pounds of beef it buys each year for school lunch programs. The dangers of E. coli or salmonella pathogens are too ominous, even if thankfully infrequent, to risk exposing our children. Until recently, the assumption was that USDA inspections of slaughterhouses and meat processing plants assured a uniform safety standard for all consumers.

Every day, Principal Laura D'Anna takes to the intercom airwaves of Patterson High School with all of the melodramatic inflection she can muster. "Guess what is coming?" she asks. "Pizza Party!"Everyone connected with the school from parents to staff members will munch pizza, get a free T-shirt and listen to a disc jockey if poor students can get their parents to fill out an application for free and reduced-price school lunches.What D'Anna is really keen on has nothing to do with mozzarella, tomatoes and dough, but rather technology that will give her students access to the Internet.

South Carroll, the county's most populous area with many elegant and pricey homes, will soon serve its needy a free hot meal.Feed My Sheep, sponsored by a dozen United Methodist congregations, will provide lunches every Monday, starting Oct. 5, at Wesley Freedom United Methodist Church on Johnsville Road in Eldersburg.The Rev. Kathleen S. Lossau, pastor of Bethesda United Methodist Church on Klee Mill Road, has long been aware of "the subculture here that is not part of the wealthy growth."

WASHINGTON -- Strawberries imported from Mexico and processed in California have caused 153 cases of hepatitis A infection among schoolchildren and teachers in Michigan, federal health officials said yesterday.Thousands more children in five other states, Arizona, California, Georgia, Iowa and Tennessee, may also be at risk, and they are being advised to get gamma globulin shots to help prevent the viral liver ailment, which generally causes a mild illness, the health officials said at a news conference.

My daughter Arielle had her first day of kindergarten last week. Parents were invited to stay in the classroom through circle time. As I sat cross-legged next to my wife on our portion of the magic circle, I listened to morning announcements with a renewed sense of interest - not as a parent, but as a food marketer. I have spent a good portion of the past 13 years working with manufacturers to sell food and beverage products into school lunch programs. And while I'm well versed in federal and state guidelines, including "bread equivalents," whole grain requirements, commodity programs and menu cycles, I have not looked at school lunch from the vantage point of the gatekeeper audience: parents.

25 years ago (week of Oct. 3-9, 1971):It was announced that Howard County residents would be able to buy flood insurance, at federally subsidized rates, from local insurance agents under the emergency flood insurance program. Howard qualified for the subsidy by agreeing to adopt control measures for future construction that would minimize flood damage.50 years ago (week of Sept. 29-Oct. 5, 1946):The Howard County Council of PTAs met in the Savage Community Hall. The group was addressed by Mrs. Gertrude Bowie from the state Department of Education.