The Canadian Record (Canadian, Tex.), Vol. 117, No. 4, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 25, 2007 Page: 2 of 28
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2
THURSDAY 25 JANUARY 2007
THE CANADIAN RECDRD
Past Of - a in Ga radian (Hemphill
County). Texas, Published weekly
in Canadien by Nancy M. Ezzell
POSTMASTER: Send address
changes tn T;le Canadian Re, rd,
P0 Sax 898, Canadian, TX 79314
SUBSCRIPTION RATES:
S3D/S3B/S42 Annually
The well-nourished child
(Zanadiatt
RECORD
EST. 1893
INCORPORATED FEBRUARY 1998
BEN EZZELL
Editor B Publish 43-1993
NANCY EZZELL Publisher
LAURIE ZELL BROWN Editor
editorlcanadianrecord.com
MARY SMITHEE Office Manager
mary@canadianrecord.com
ADVERTISING
Holly Henderson, Jason Turner
advertisingi3icariadianrecQrd.com
jasan@canadianrecard.cam
NEWS/FEATURES
Cethy Ricketts, Julia Schafer
news®! canadianrecard.com
DESIGNS PRODUCTION
Laurie Ezzell Brown, Cathy Ricketts
Holly Henderson
PHOTOGRAPHY
Laurie Ensll Brown
Cathy Ricketts
SPDRTS
Jason Turner
CONTRIBUTORS: Mary Jane McKinney.
Bob Rogers. Ruth Beasley. Jenny Klein
USPS DB7-9GI
P0 Box 893. Canadian, TX 79QI4
Phoi e: 8GG.323.G4GI or 5321
5.323.5738
By Celia Hagert
TEXAS DDESN'T ALWAYS do right by its kids.
Pqtftpasttd to the rest of the country, Texas
has the highes t rate of children without health
insurance and a greater share of kids living
in poverty than most other states. But when it
comes to providing children with school lunch
and school breakfast, Texas sets the bar.
Every day, more than 2.8 million Texas
students receiye hot lunches. Virtually every
public school in Texas participates in the pro-
gram (over 7.300 schools).
Another Li million kids eat breakfast at
school, 33,000 more kids today than in 2004.
In fact. 99 percent of Texas schools that offer
school lunch also offer school breakfast, giv-
ing Texas the third highest: participation in
the nation. Almost 85 percent of the children
who eat school breakfast are from low-income
families.
The National School Lunch Program has
been around since 1946, when it was signed
into law by President Truman. The program
grew out of national security concerns, after
an investigation of men rejected fromserving
in World War II found that many were mal-
nourished. Congress decided to combat this
problem by rooting out childhood hunger, and
began providing funds to states to subsidize
the cost of providing school lunches.
Congress established the National School
Breakfast Program 40 years ago. Since then,
extensive research has shown that kids who
eat breakfast at school do better academi-
cally.
The premise behind both programs is sim-
ple: in order for children to learn, they need
to eat well. To ensure that every kid can eat
breakfast and lunch, schools charge students
for the meal based on their family's ability to
pay. Schools are reimbursed the difference by
the federal government, which sets the reim-
bursement rates and updates them for infla-
tion each year.
Children receive free breakfast or lunch if
their household income is at or below 130 per-
cent of poverty ($21,580 for a family of three).
Children whos® families earn between 130
percent and 185 percent of poverty ($30,710
for a family of three) receive a reduced-price
breakfast or lunch, which can cost no more
than 40 cents. Almost 60 percent of Texas,
schoolchildren are low-income and there-
fore eligible for free or reduced-price meals.
Jtauiie Siamt
Students who do not come from low-income
families pay the full price, though the federal
government subsidizes the cost of their meals
as well.
Despite the great benefit of the school
breakfast program, Texas still reaches only
about half of the kids who eat lunch, leaving
tens of millions of federal dollars on the table
each year. This, coming legislative session a
proposal encfiuraging low-income school dis-
tricts to servo breakfast free to all students^
regardless of their family's income will likely
be considered. This initiative would boost
participation in the breakfast program and
increase federal funding coming to Texas.
National School Breakfast and Lunch is
win-win-win, benefitting parents, students,
and schools.
Parents win because they are offered a
convenient way to provide meals for their
children at the lowest possible price. Meals
contain one-third or more of the nutrients
students need every day.
Students win because they receive the nu-
trition they need to learn. Research shows
that proper nutrition improves a child's be-
havior, school performance, and overall cog-
nitive development.
Schools win because their students do bet-
ter. Not only that, but because the program
is federally-funded, it costs the state noth-
ing—in taxes or fees—to run the program- In
fact, the more students who eat breakfast and
lunch at school, the more free money the state
Will receive.
The National School Lunch and Breakfast
programs are model programs and a proven
way to prevent childhood hunger and in-
crease academic achievement.
However, just becausea child is fed doesn't
mean he is well-nourished. As a national lead-
er in providing school breakfast and lunch,
Texas must now take the: lead in working to
guarantee that students are provided with
well-balanced, high quality meals.
This would mean more fresh fruits and
vegetables and a larger financial commitment
from the state and the federal government. In
this age of childhood obesity, what could be
more worth it?
Hagert is a senior policy analyst at the
Center for Public Policy Priorities in Aus-
tin.
FLYING BACK FROM A WEEKEND IN HOUSTON, I began to
dread the drive in from the airport Sunday afternoon. The snow line was
clearly visible as we flew over Lubbock and aimed for Amarillo. As we
approached the runway flying over 1-40, it was obvious traffic was only
inching forward on the Panhandle's ice-glazed roads.
My dread only deepened when I loaded up the car and headed north.
Jack-knifed tractor trailers blocked traffic lanes and movement slowed
ton crawl, often stopping for several minutes at a time. I tried to set the
cruise control at 2 miles per hour, and found it was too much speed. The
drive from the airport to Conway—usually about alS-minute trip—took
an hour, and I reluctantly turned off 1-40 and headed toward U.S. 60.
Conditions improved only slightly on 60—mainly because the traffic
thinned and there was less competition for the few bare spots inthe road.
The trip Was long and sloW and tense, and for my friend, Kim McKin-
ney—whose white knuckles belied her outwardly jovial attitude—it was
obviously a little frightening.
As we hit the rolling hills
around Miami, I took a deep
breath, expecting the worst.
To my amazement, the road
cleared, It was obvious that area
highway crews had been out
in force, and had meticulously
scraped the pavement. We
picked up speed, and my prom-
ise that we would be home for the second half of the New Orleans/Bears
playoff game suddenly sounded far more believable.
It was clear sailing, in fact, all the way into Hemphill County and Ca-
nadian. And once inside the City limits, the work that had been done on
those streets was apparent, as well.
T Watch from my office window today as City and County crews Con-
tinue to clear away mounds of snow and scrape patches of ice on Main
Street. My appreciation for their efforts—which I know have spanned
both night and day—has grown steadily.
Once safe at home, it is easier to admire the snow's scenic beauty, and
to appreciate the snowmen policing front yards around town. But the
most beautiful sight I think I've seen this week has been the highway and
road crews who have worked so hard these last few days to make us safer>
and to get us to the football game—or the stock show—on time.
My hearty thanks to all of them—to TxDOT, to Hemphill and Rob-
erts County, and to the City of Canadian—for a difficult job well done.
CALLED TO HOUSTON for a Texas Press Association Midwinter
Convention, I missed this weekend's livestock show and sale. But I re-
turned to rave reviews for the hard work of organizers, for the gener-
osity and dedication of buyers, and for the untrained auctioneer—Mike
McKinney—who stepped boldly into the breach caused by bad weather.
Boldly, I say, because Mike is no auctioneer, and he's certainly no expert
on livestock.
But Mike, Who is also my friend, is undaunted by what he does not
know. Where others might lack self-confidence, he justamps it up a notch
or two, and goes for broke.
I'm sorry I missed his performance, but I heard about it all around
town this week. And really—why is it necessary to describe the light-
weight Yorkshire being led into the ring as anything other than a cute
pink pig with a curly tail? Why
not introduce the lamb "with ro-
mance in his eyes?"
I've been in that County Exhi-
bition Barn on a cold winter eve-
ning, smelled its organic aromas,
tasted the grit of the show ring in
my mouth. I've watched a pig de-
vour a styrofoamcup full of tobacco: spit and smelled the burgers grilling
as the steer does;a turn on the floor, pondering—I imagine—his fate.
So I admire Mike Mc Kinney's gifts of agile humor and gentle persua-
sion, and imagine the record sales prices those exhibitors received may
owe more than a little to him Less visible but no less vital, though, are the
folks who have planned and prepared and organized and worked these
stock shows for years, and who receive more than their fair share of com-
plaints and far less than their fair share of praise in return.
Since I'm handing out thank you's this week, I'd like to send a few
their way, and hope that those past, px-esent and future beneficiaries of
their hard work will do so fis well.
IN PHOTO ABOVE: RETIRING STOCKSHOW BOARD MEMBERSTOMWHEELERANDDAVIDCARR
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Brown, Laurie Ezzell. The Canadian Record (Canadian, Tex.), Vol. 117, No. 4, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 25, 2007, newspaper, January 25, 2007; Canadian, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth220767/m1/2/: accessed August 15, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Hemphill County Library.