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FRANKFORT,
Ky. — Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer asks all
Kentuckians to join him in commemorating National School
Lunch Week, which is Oct. 11-15.
"The
School Lunch Program serves 400,000 meals a day to Kentucky
schoolchildren through the Kentucky Department of Agriculture's
Division of Food Distribution," Commissioner Farmer
said. "These nutritious meals are served in age-appropriate
portions. Thanks to this program, we're fighting both
hunger and obesity among low-income Kentucky schoolchildren.
The Department is proud to administer this outstanding
program, which is a solid investment in our most precious
resource, our children."
The
Department ordered more than $15 million worth of U.S.
Department of Agriculture commodities and distributed
them to 1,600 school sites in the 2004 fiscal year.
More than $1.6 million of that amount was used to buy
fresh produce through the U.S. Department of Defense,
which buys fresh produce from Kentucky farmers when
available. USDA bought more than 7.1 million pounds
of commodity products, valued at more than $5 million,
from Kentucky farmers to distribute throughout the United
States.
More
than 28 million children in more than 99,000 schools
in the U.S. are served lunch every day through the program.
The
National School Lunch Program was established in 1946
after the U.S. military had to reject many World War
II recruits due to malnourishment. It is the largest
of the federal child nutrition programs.
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