Bill Clinton

“ This school year, schools across the country are serving more healthful and more appealing school meals, and school-children are learning to make food choices for a nutritious diet. The National School Lunch Program, which began in 1946, is celebrating its 50th anniversary year with historic changes that will reduce diet-related diseases and improve the health outlook for America's children. ”

“ The 1996-97 school year is the first year that school meals must meet the Dietary Guidelines for Americans under the new School Meals Initiative for Healthy Children. This initiative, created to help schools make necessary improvements, is providing nutrition education for children and training and technical assistance for school food-service professionals. Early reports from pilot communities tell us that we are getting results. Food-service professionals are seeing children eat more fruits and vegetables. ”

“ These schools are community focal points for change, leading the way in bringing together teachers, parents, health professionals, local businesses, and industry leaders to promote nutrition education and to work for more healthful school meals. These schools benefit from the resources made available through an innovative network of public-private partnerships. More than 200 organizations are part of an extensive support network that dramatically increases the impact and reach of a relatively small Federal investment. ”