CA Legislature Approves Sen. Skinner’s SB 348, Healthy Meals for Kids

The Legislature has unanimously approved Senator Nancy Skinner’s SB 348, Healthy Meals for Kids, which if signed into law, will make California the first state to codify President Joe Biden’s new federal guidelines on school nutrition standards aimed at reducing sugar and salt in school meals.

“President Biden’s new school nutrition standards are a vital step toward ensuring that school meals meet the nutrition standards recommended by America’s pediatricians. And it’s fitting that California, the first state to provide two free school meals a day, would also be the first state to pass legislation codifying these new guidelines,” Sen. Skinner said. “SB 348 ensures that California’s school meals meet nutrition guidelines for added sugar and salt, making California a national leader in the fight against diabetes and other health issues.”

Both the state Assembly and the state Senate voted unanimously to approve SB 348. The bill is now headed to Gov. Newsom’s desk.

As a result of legislation that Sen. Skinner authored in 2021, California now provides two free school meals a day to all public school students. These school meals represent more than half of the calories many students will consume in a day.

The Biden-Harris’ administration new national school nutrition standards, which would be enshrined in California law if SB 348 is signed, are aimed at reducing sugars, fat, and salt, and increasing whole grains in school meals. SB 348 would also require the California Department of Education to make recommendations that would help ensure students have adequate time to eat their school meals.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, chronic health issues associated with children eating meals with too much added sugar include diabetes, hypertension, and fatty liver disease. From 2001 to 2017, the percentage of young people living with type 2 diabetes soared by 95 percent in the U.S. Last year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released a report showing that added sugar in school meals far exceed the Dietary Guidelines for Americans standard. Under that standard, no more than 10% of calories from meals should come from added sugar. Currently, 92% of school breakfasts and 69% of school lunches currently exceed the standard.

SB 348 is backed by a coalition of organizations dedicated to improving children’s health and by advocates for healthy school meals for all, including the American Diabetes Association, the American Heart Association, the American Dental Association, California Association of Food Banks, the California Medical Association, Common Cause, Dolores Huerta Foundation, Eat Real, End Child Poverty California – Grace Inc., Food Research and Action Center, FoodCorps, Kaiser Permanente, NextGen California, No Kid Hungry, Office of Kat Taylor, and TomKat Ranch.

SB 348 also includes protections to ensure that California schoolchildren will continue to receive healthy and nutritious meals even if a future president rescinds President Biden’s federal guidelines.

“Research shows that providing nutritious meals to students not only improves their health but also leads to better academic outcomes,” Sen. Skinner added. “With California’s abundance of delicious, fresh-grown, nutritious food, our children deserve the healthiest meals, and SB 348 helps us make sure they get them.”

Sen. Nancy Skinner represents the 9th Senate District and is chair of the Senate Budget Committee and the California Legislative Women’s Caucus.