BILL NUMBER: AB 1829	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Bradford

                        FEBRUARY 22, 2012

   An act to add Section 49591 to the Education Code, relating to
school lunches.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1829, as introduced, Bradford. Schools: National School Lunch
Program.
   Existing law requires the State Department of Education to ensure
that the nutrition levels of meals served to schoolage children
pursuant to the National School Lunch Act be of the highest quality
and greatest nutritional value possible.
   Existing law requires each school district and county
superintendent of schools maintaining any kindergarten or any of
grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to provide for each needy pupil one
nutritionally adequate free or reduced-price meal during each
schoolday and defines a nutritionally adequate meal as a breakfast or
lunch that qualifies for reimbursement under the federal child
nutrition program regulations.
   This bill would require a school district participating in the
National School Lunch Program to disseminate specified information
regarding the nutritional content of the reimbursable lunches served
as part of the program in a manner that permits parents and pupils to
access the nutritional information while they access the daily
school lunch menu, commencing with the 2013-14 school year. The bill
would specify that these requirements apply only to school districts
that, as of January 1, 2013, regularly disseminate school menu
information online or in printed form.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  (a) The Legislature finds and declares the following:
   (1) There is an increase in the number of overweight children in
California.
   (2) Medical literature documents the severe, lifelong health
consequences of diets high in fat and saturated fat as well as the
health and economic consequences of being overweight or obese.
   (3) The National School Lunch Program can play a critical role in
addressing this health crisis.
   (4) Parental involvement is essential to maximizing the
obesity-prevention potential of the National School Lunch Program.
   (b) Therefore, recognizing the availability of free and readily
accessible nutritional information for entrees and other components
served as part of the National School Lunch Program, it is the intent
of the Legislature that parents be informed if their school district
has adopted guidelines to provide parents with information about the
nutritional content of meals served through the National School
Lunch Program.
  SEC. 2.  Section 49591 is added to the Education Code, to read:
   49591.  (a) Commencing with the 2013-14 school year, a school
district participating in the National School Lunch Program shall
disseminate information regarding the nutritional content of the
reimbursable lunches served as part of the program. This information
shall include, but is not limited to, all of the following:
   (1) The total number of calories in each meal.
   (2) The total number of grams of saturated fat in each meal.
   (3) The total number of grams of protein in each meal.
   (4) The total number of carbohydrates in each meal.
   (5) The total number of milligrams of sodium in each meal.
   (b) A school district participating in the National School Lunch
Program shall present the information described in subdivision (a) in
a manner that permits parents and pupils to access the nutritional
information while they access the daily school lunch menu.
   (c) This section shall apply only to school districts that, as of
January 1, 2013, regularly disseminate school menu information online
or in printed form.