WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) issued the following statement today after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), in conjunction with First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move!” initiative, unveiled new guidelines that would limit the marketing of unhealthy foods in schools. Harkin has worked for over a decade to boost nutrition and combat unhealthy food marketing to children. The local wellness policies, which constitute the basis for USDA’s guidelines, originated in the 2004 child nutrition bill, which Harkin authored as the senior Democrat on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
“Kids are being bombarded by advertisements for foods that are of poor nutritional quality. At a time when research shows us overwhelmingly that childhood obesity has skyrocketed in recent years and that the marketing of unhealthy food and beverages to kids contributes to that epidemic, we must take action,” Harkin said. “Today’s proposed rules from the USDA will help ensure that schools, of all places, are a safe haven from junk food marketing and will help students make sound nutritional choices—a tremendous step forward for combating childhood obesity. But our work must also continue in the greater community, so I look forward to working with First Lady Michelle Obama, the USDA, and other federal agencies on this shared mission.”