The federal Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) provides balanced and nutritious meals to nearly 800,000 California preschoolers each day. Research conducted by the University of California Nutrition Policy Institute shows that CACFP-participating childcare sites offer better quality meals compared to sites that do not participate. The CACFP can also reduce family food insecurity. California Senate Bill 1481 (Becker)—Food with Care—would establish a free daily meal program for children in childcare centers and homes that participate in CACFP, while also ensuring adequate and fair pay for child care providers. The bill is co-sponsored by CACFP Roundtable and Nourish CA. A new NPI policy brief synthesizes research showing the need for increased access to healthy food for preschool-aged children in California, citing inadequate access to healthy food contributing to increased risks of children's developing poor health outcomes such as overweight, obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, fatty liver disease, and other health and psychological issues. These health issues can cost California over $71 billion dollars annually.
The California Department of Social Services became the State Agency to oversee the federal Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), which was previously managed by the California Department of Education, effective July 1, 2021. This administrative change to the program was initiated by the Budget Act of Fiscal Year 2021 in alignment with the State's goal to build and strengthen equitable, comprehensive, quality, and affordable child care and development systems for the children and families in California. The Nutrition Policy Institute will work with the CACFP Roundtable to identify barriers experienced by child care centers that work directly with the state or through a sponsoring organization and child care center sponsors in accessing CACFP in order to inform recommendations for improvement. The six-month project began in September 2021 and is lead by Nutrition Policy Institute principal investigator and director, Lorrene Ritchie, in collaboration with NPI researchers Danielle Lee, Christina Hecht, and Claudia Olague.
Nutrition Policy Institute policy advisor Christina Hecht presented virtually at the 2021 Child and Adult Care Food Program conference. Her talk on October 19 was titled “Testing: one, two and three! AB 2370 and you” on the California law–AB 2370–that requires licensed child care centers to test for lead at every tap used for drinking or cooking. Implementation of the law was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hecht's talk informed attendees on how to prepare for future implementation of AB 2370 and also provided a question and answer session for child care providers to share their experiences. Hecht leads the National Drinking Water Alliance, which is coordinated by NPI.
Nutrition Policy Institute (NPI) researchers' new study of 297 licensed California child care providers that care for infants suggests that those participating in the federal Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) offered fruits and vegetables more often and sweetened yogurt less often to infants in their care compared to sites that did not participate in the CACFP. Additionally, more CACFP participants compared to those that did not participate in CACFP were in alignment with the current recommendations to not offer cow's milk to infants prior to their first birthday. However, the study also showed that CACFP participants were less likely to usually provide breastmilk to infants, suggesting the need for additional support and recommendations for CACFP participants on breastfeeding resources for providers and families. The study was conducted in 2016 prior to updates to the CACFP nutrition standards which went into effect in October 2017. Results from the study were published online ahead of print on April 29, 2020 in the Maternal and Child Health Journal. The state-wide child care study was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Healthy Eating Research Program, and was conducted by NPI's Lorrene Ritchie, Danielle Lee, Klara Gurzo (currently with Stockholm University Department of Public Health Sciences), and Lilly Nhan (currently with University of California, Los Angeles Fielding School of Public Health) in collaboration with Elyse Homel Vitale of the Child Care Food Program Roundtable (previously with California Food Policy Advocates) and Sallie Yoshida of Social Policy Research Associates (previously with Sarah Samuels Center for Public Health Research & Evaluation).
The Nutrition Policy Institute (NPI) submitted on April 22, 2020 comments in strong opposition to the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) “Simplifying Meal Service and Monitoring Requirements in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs” proposed rule. The proposed rule would roll back nutrition standards in both the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) and the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs. For nearly twenty years, researchers at the NPI and its predecessor organization have engaged in research and evaluation to improve nutrition policy in California and the nation, with special emphasis on the challenges for low-income children in accessing a healthy diet. "Today, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, these challenges have been greatly magnified," commented NPI Policy Director Ken Hecht. "The numbers of unemployed low-income families whose children need nutrition assistance has grown exponentially at the very time when schools, the operating site for most child nutrition programs, are closed. Fortunately, Congress and the USDA have acted quickly to expand and ease access to the essential food programs. Unfortunately, the proposed rules to which these comments are addressed seem largely counterproductive to children's health and well being and unresponsive to the pandemic."