Vegetable Mandate
The state is in fiscal collapse, so the California legislature is doing what it does best--finding new things to regulate. The latest a vegetable mandate for day care center lunches. The LAT's Mary MacVean reports:
The Assembly has passed a bill to set minimum standards for food in licensed child-care centers, requiring a vegetable to be part of lunch and supper and forbidding whole milk for children 2 or older....
"California enjoys a worldwide reputation for its sunny, healthy lifestyle," said the bill's author, Assemblywoman Julia Brownley (D-Santa Monica). "Childhood obesity rates threaten to steal this enviable position."
The bill, which passed the Assembly on Wednesday by a 48-27 vote, now heads to the Senate.
If it becomes law, AB 627 would require low-fat or skim milk to be served to children 2 years old and older. It would limit sugar in cereals and eliminate deep frying and sweetened drinks. It also would establish an 18-month pilot project to evaluate stronger nutrition and physical activities standards.
Next up: a bill to force the kids to eat those vegetables.