A slight shift

The world of Michigan legislation has shifted - slightly. The information below shows that an amendment to pending legislation will not require schools to outsource their cafeteria functions. To me this is a good thing. Let's keep the ownership of decisions about such things in the hands of the people who are impacted. If individual schools can find a way to feed children more healthily, more economically and more creatively, let's let that happen and learn from it.

"This morning the House Education Committee held a meeting in Lansing on House Bill 4306, which would amend the revised school code. 

A new substitute version of this bill (which again, may still change and has not been adoped by the House; see 

attached) is now on the table. This substitute bill (H-2) still requires school districts to collect bids for food, 

custodial, and transportation services but does not mandate that schools/districts privatize these services; "a school district, intermediate school district, or public school academy may contract with any person or entity to provide these services, or may have these services provided on an employment basis by a group of its employees after obtaining competitive bids..." This new version of the bill also exempts school food service programs that make a profit from that requirement; "(4) This section does not apply to...(B) the provision of food services, if the revenues that the school district, intermediate school district, or public school academy receives from its food service program exceed the costs of operation of the program."

With a packed room including numerous school food service directors, spoken testimony and submitted testimony cards were overwhelmingly in opposition of this bill, although there was some confusion between the different versions of the bill as many had not yet seen the newest substitute bill that began circulating late yesterday. Please check the House Education Committee homepage in the coming days for minutes and testimony from this meeting - http://www.house.mi.gov/committeeinfo.asp?lstcommittees=education.

Best,

Colleen Matts

Farm to Institution Specialist

CS Mott Group for Sustainable Food Systems

Michigan State University

303 Natural Resources Building

East Lansing, MI 48824-1222

517.432.0310

www.mifarmtoschool.msu.edu"