HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES             H.C.R. NO.76          
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                     HOUSE  CONCURRENT
                        RESOLUTION

  REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND THE DEPARTMENT OF
    HEALTH TO DEVELOP A PLAN TO PROVIDE ALL HAWAII PUBLIC
    SCHOOL CHILDREN WITH THE OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE A NUTRITIOUS
    BREAKFAST.



 1        WHEREAS, in October, 1997, the Interagency Task Force on
 2   Food and Nutrition Assistance, created by House Concurrent
 3   Resolution No. 84, 1996, published its report; and
 4   
 5        WHEREAS, one finding is that many food and nutrition
 6   assistance programs are funded through the United States
 7   Department of Agriculture, including the Child Nutrition
 8   Program which, at the state level in Hawaii, offers six
 9   programs administered by the Department of Education including
10   the School Breakfast Program; and
11   
12        WHEREAS, the Department of Education's school food
13   services program receives federal funding from the United
14   States Department of Agriculture's Food Consumer Services,
15   state funding as part of the Department's budget, and moneys
16   collected from public school students; and
17   
18        WHEREAS, the goals of all child nutrition programs are to:
19   
20        (1)  Provide maximum nutrition for optimal physical and
21             mental development; and
22   
23        (2)  Introduce children to good nutrition habits with the
24             goal that they will adopt such habits for life;
25   
26   and
27   
28        WHEREAS, there needs to be a recognition that nutritious
29   breakfasts for school children are not just meals but
30   preventive nutrition programs that help ensure that all
31   children, especially nutritionally vulnerable children, are
32   given the basic nutritional support to enable them to learn in
33   school; and
34   

 
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 1        WHEREAS, although the current program in Hawaii provides
 2   nutritious breakfasts to public school children, it should be
 3   the goal of the State to eventually provide such breakfasts for
 4   all children, including pre-school aged children; and
 5   
 6        WHEREAS, because little research has been conducted on
 7   nutritional and food needs of Hawaii's population, there is
 8   heavy reliance on interpolating these needs from social,
 9   health, and welfare data generated by agencies such as the
10   Departments of Human Services, Health, and Business, Economic
11   Development, and Tourism; and
12   
13        WHEREAS, food and housing prices have always been inflated
14   in Hawaii, and since 1980, the cost of living has risen sixty-
15   three per cent.  A 1988-1989 comparison study with twenty-five
16   other metropolitan areas in the nation ranked Honolulu as the
17   highest for all retail food prices; and
18   
19        WHEREAS, it is in the interest of the people of Hawaii to
20   ensure that all children in the State are provided the
21   opportunity to have a nutritious breakfast; now, therefore,
22   
23        BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the
24   Twentieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session
25   of 1999, the Senate concurring, that the Department of
26   Education and the Department of Health are requested to develop
27   a plan to provide all Hawaii public school children with the
28   opportunity to have a nutritious breakfast; and
29   
30        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the plan is requested to
31   consider the feasibility of incrementally phasing in pre-school
32   aged children in any program to provide nutritious breakfasts
33   to children in Hawaii; and
34   
35        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the plan is further requested
36   to consider providing students in all schools in Hawaii, public
37   and private, the opportunity to have a nutritious breakfast by
38   examining concrete ways to collaborate with non-public schools
39   in the State; and
40   
41        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the plan is also requested to
42   consider extending the opportunity to all children in the
43   State, regardless of whether they attend schools or not, to
44   have a nutritious breakfast; and
45   

 
 
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                                  H.C.R. NO.76          
                                                        
                                                        


 1        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
 2   Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Superintendent of
 3   Education, the Chairperson of the Board of Education, and the
 4   Director of Health.
 5   
 6   
 7   
 8                         OFFERED BY:  ____________________________