LAWET

Kaustav Ghosh

“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.”

-D EisenHower

Ambrose, Stephen E.. Eisenhower: Soldier and President. United Kingdom: Simon & Schuster, 1991.

Introduction– Right to food is an unalienable human rights which does not need any kind of legal sanction and recognition. Food is an integral part of human life which saves us from hunger and malnutrition. We are very close to the peak of scientific innovation and development but in this twenty first century having two quarter meal is still considered as dream for millions. We could reach the moon, we could bring computer and internet but still we could not solve the issue of right to food. Matters are not finished here- millions of malnourished children are starving to death. There are so many organization working to end the hunger but still could not stop the death toll, seems like no legislations are not working enough or are they working. That is a different topic for analysis and research; lets today only concentrate on the new law which become Public law no 117-129 on 21/05/2022.

History and background– In the year 2010 the then President of the U.S.A Barak Obama set a goal for ending hunger by 2015 and working on child obesity. We know the impact of fast food on the child and they need to be protected. In fact ending hunger was in the manifesto of both Republican and Democrat parties; it was all started in the year 1946 just after the end of the World War II. National School Lunch Act which is also known as Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (79 P.L. 396, 60 Stat. 230), 1946 was introduce to ensure low cost or free meals to the qualified students in the school. It is an “ACT to provide assistance to the States in the establishment, maintenance, operation, and expansion of school lunch programs, and for other purposes.“¹ Section 2 of the said act declares the policy-“It is hereby declared to be the policy of Congress, as a measure of national security, to safeguard the health and well-being of the Nation’s children and to encourage the domestic consumption of nutritious agricultural commodities and other food, by assisting the States, through grants-in-aid and other means, in providing an adequate supply of foods and other facilities for the establishment, maintenance, operation, and expansion of
nonprofit school lunch programs.”²

Then lets press the fast forward button so that we can go in the year 1966 when Child Nutrition Act, 1966 was introduced. It is an ACT to strengthen and expand the food service program for children. Section 2 of the said Act declared its policy-“ In recognition of the demonstrated relationship between food and good nutrition and the capacity of children to develop and learn, based on the years of cumulative successful experience under the national school lunch program with its significant contributions in the field of applied nutrition research, it is hereby declared to be the policy of Congress that these efforts shall be extended, expanded, and strengthened under the authority of the Secretary of Agriculture as a measure to safeguard the health and well-being of the Nation’s children, and to encourage the domestic consumption of agricultural and other foods, by assisting States, through grants-in-aid and other means, to meet more effectively the nutritional needs of our children”.³

The Child Nutrition Act, first signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1966, expanded the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act of 1946 and authorizes all of the federal school meal and child nutrition programs.⁴

It is necessary to mention the remarks passed by the then President Lyndon B Johnson while signing the bill-

“𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚

–𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐲, 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞.

–𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐠𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨 𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐝, 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡.

–𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥-𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐈 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦-𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐍𝐮𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝟏𝟗𝟔𝟔.

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐍𝐮𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝟏𝟗𝟔𝟔 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐠𝐚𝐩 𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥.

𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐲-𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧. 𝐈𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐟𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐲.

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐚𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞.

𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐰 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐋𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐖𝐞𝐞𝐤, 𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟗 𝐭𝐨 𝟏𝟓. 𝐓𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐨 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐋𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐀𝐜𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐒𝐨 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐟 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞-𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐣𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐚𝐩𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐍𝐮𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐜𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐣𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐚𝐩𝐬:

–𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐠𝐨 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭.

–𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥.

–𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦, 𝐭𝐨𝐨.

–𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐲𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝.

–𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐤 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝟑𝟎. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝟑 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐍𝐮𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝟏𝟗𝟔𝟔 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥. 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦, 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐠𝐚𝐩 𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝟓 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬.

𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐚𝐥.

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞.

𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐂. 𝐁. 𝐖𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐡, 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐨, 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞. 𝐓𝐨 𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐄𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫, 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐚𝐧 𝐇𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐟 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐰𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐲–𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐭𝐨𝐨.”⁵

Now You may ask why I have quoted him. While interpreting any statutes it is necessary to analysis the remarks of the legislator for better understanding it. This is why whenever I write any articles on any topics related to the Constitution of India I used to quote B.R.Ambedkar, the chief Architect of Indian constitution, for getting a clarity and giving lucidity to the reader. It will also helps us to know not only the intention of the legislator but also the objectives the ACT which it want to fulfill.

Now lets get back again to 2010 when the then President Barak Obama signs Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010 into Law. This ACT of 2010 authorizes funding for federal school meal and child nutrition programs and increases access to healthy food for low-income children. Many of the programs featured in the Act do not have a specific expiration date, but Congress is periodically required to review and reauthorize funding.⁶ The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act allows United States Department of Agriculture, for the first time in 30 years, opportunity to make real reforms to the school lunch and breakfast programs by improving the critical nutrition and hunger safety net for millions of children.⁷

Access to Baby formula Act of 2022 is an ACT to amend Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to establish waiver authority to address certain emergencies, disasters, and supply chain disruptions, and for other purposes. This ACT is initiated to counter the shortage of baby formula.

Conclusion– Life is all about getting better and error free every day, taking lessons from the past mistake and introduce a new but glorious chapter of life. Every statute, poor or excellent, aims to fulfill some object and bridging the gap presents in the society. As the human no law is perfect-we make it perfect by our dedication, honesty, determination to working on this issue tirelessly. Every attempt is good unless it suffers from lack of intent. Access to baby formula Act is the further attempt securing the main objective right to food by reducing every chances of hunger and malnutrition. Only time will tell the success and effort will make the history for sure.

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1)https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/COMPS-10333/pdf/COMPS-10333.pdf

2) ibid

3)https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/COMPS-10328/pdf/COMPS-10328.pdf

4)https://www.childrensdefense.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/child-nutrition.pdf

5)https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-the-signing-the-child-nutrition-act-1966

6)https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/Child_Nutrition_Fact_Sheet_12_10_10.pdf

7)https://www.fns.usda.gov/school-meals/healthy-hunger-free-kids-act