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NewsTranscript
00:00Senator Walsh.
00:02Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
00:04You know, one of the reasons I so appreciate this committee, led by you and Senator Klobuchar,
00:09is the kind of witnesses we get.
00:11I mean, you guys are doing good work.
00:14Really appreciate it.
00:15You know, I'm thinking about you, and you found a way that suited your schedule,
00:21and then you turned it into this incredible career that has been so beneficial,
00:26not just for your kids, but for kids all over the country.
00:30That's pretty impressive.
00:32And each of you has been so committed to doing practical things in the local level,
00:37community level, where there's so much pressure in our communities that pull families apart,
00:42that make it tough for parents managing with their kids going to school,
00:46that they worry about how they're doing there, and food is so essential.
00:50So I just want to express to each of you my gratitude for the work that you're doing.
00:55And, Mr. Chairman, as you know, our job is to make their job easier, not harder.
01:00We fail in that a lot of times, but this committee is really committed to trying to do everything you can.
01:08I'll start by just asking Ms. Dodson, put it in the context of broader issues than just milk,
01:16but the nutrition programs.
01:17We have debates here about funding any kind of program, and that's fair and square.
01:24But I literally have not heard a witness, including the most fiscally conservative folks here,
01:32who have anything that they object to with respect to school nutrition.
01:38You know, we have a debate about whether it should be needs-based or whatever.
01:42But, you know, in addition to the fundamentally beneficial effect of having kids get good nutrition at school,
01:51I've always felt there's a socialization element to that.
01:55You know, kids having a meal together, sharing milk together,
01:58which is so much part of not only building a good body but good character.
02:03So maybe you could just comment a little bit about the benefits you see.
02:08Yes, sir.
02:09I think school meals have a unique opportunity, as I mentioned.
02:13I honestly believe it could be a tremendous solution for our nation's health.
02:18You have the opportunity to model healthy eating, expose children to a wide variety of locally grown foods,
02:25especially that are healthy and nutritious.
02:28And we've seen the combination of that with nutrition education or what we call food-based learning
02:34is a way to bring education lessons alive but also get students more comfortable with the food choices
02:43that they're being served as part of school meals
02:45because they're not always seeing those at home in their regular diet.
02:50So they're not always exposed to fresh fruits and vegetables like we have the opportunity to provide them with at school.
02:56So I think education has that opportunity and school nutrition can kind of be that educational hub,
03:03if you will, and a foundation for children within their school day.
03:08Mr. Gorman, my predecessor in the United States Senate from Vermont is that man who's staring at us right from his picture up there,
03:18former chairman of the Agriculture Committee, Patrick Leahy, and we in Vermont are very proud of all he did.
03:23One of his many accomplishments was the Patrick Leahy Farm to School and Local Food for Schools Cooperative Program.
03:32That was terminated for the rest of this fiscal year, and my understanding is it'll be reinstated next year.
03:40But can you just comment on the benefit of Senator Leahy's legacy program that was supported
03:47with a strong bipartisan majority in the United States Senate?
03:52Yeah, thank you for that question.
03:53It really is.
03:55You know, we were a recipient of the grant probably five or six years ago,
03:58and we had applied again this coming year and got that notice that it was canceled.
04:03So it was really crushing to us.
04:05And, you know, it is a jumpstart to local food movements.
04:11And I think about over our past 10, 15 years, you know, it started us building towards figuring out the local infrastructure
04:19and getting more local food and starting school gardens.
04:23And over the past five years, we've gotten private and public grants in our county over $2 million to move on this issue,
04:36to get kids so they understand what local food is, to make those connections.
04:41We're starting a food processing plant in Muskegon County with the goal of getting local Michigan potatoes diced and frozen
04:53so we can get them on every plate in Muskegon County and beyond.
04:56All of that started with that farm-to-school grant that we got 10 years ago as a cooperative to start putting those pieces together.
05:05Thank you very much.
05:06Before I yield back, I just want to say this committee has an opportunity to help the Senate be a better Senate.
05:14And I think one of the things we can do is take some of these specific bills that we agree on and move them,
05:20like this whole milk, Senator Marshall's whole milk bill.
05:23So I'm just going to suggest to the chairman to give that some thought.
05:27We could move this before we get a full farm bill.
05:30Let's get some things done that we think make sense to get done and help our farmers and help our kids.
05:35I yield back.