Healthy Foods

On March 13^th, the Tennessee Obesity Taskforce and the American Heart Association held its 2013 Day on the Hill activities. 
 
This year we had well over 60 people attend and those volunteers took part in 43 scheduled one-on-one meetings with their legislators.  It was a great day and I have had a lot of positive feedback about the meetings that were held with legislators.  We would like to say THANK YOU to each of you who made time out of their busy day to attend, and for those who weren’t able to, there’s always next year!  To see the issues we discussed with our lawmakers, please visit this link: http://www.heart.org/idc/groups/heart-public/@wcm/@gsa/documents/downloadable/ucm_450456.pdf

Rep. Toby Barker introduced House Bill 718 to establish an Interagency Farm to School Council to facilitate the procurement and use of locally grown and locally raised agricultural products in school meals.  The bill has passed the Senate and, last week, was agreed on by the House.  The bill awaits the Speaker’s signature and then it will go to the governor for his final signature. 

If signed into law, the Interagency Farm to School Council will help improve the quality of food served in schools and support the state economy by generating new income for Mississippi farmers.  Farm to School programs strengthen local economies, improves the livelihood of local farmers, and spurs additional spending on other local products and services.