Anderson bills provided funding for food center expansion, expand school breakfast for in-need children

Senator Paul Anderson (R-Plymouth) joined local business leaders and community officials at the “wall breaking” ceremony for Second Harvest Heartland’s food center expansion project. Senator Anderson chief-authored legislation to secure $18 million in funding for the project that was signed into law last year by Governor Mark Dayton. The project will allow for Second Harvest to increase their capacity by 68 million more meals a year for hungry Minnesotans statewide.

“This distribution center will provide meals to hungry Minnesotans in all 87 counties, including to critically important organizations in our area such as Interfaith Outreach and Community Partners (IOCP) in Plymouth and ICA Food Shelf in Minnetonka,” said Senator Anderson. “This project will help keep more people healthy, working, and contributing to our state’s economy and helps work towards our commitment to end hunger in Minnesota once and for all.”

In addition to his work securing funds for the Second Harvest Heartland expansion, Senator Anderson chief-authored bipartisan legislation to increase access to healthy breakfasts for Minnesota students. The “Breakfast after the Bell” bill offers school districts incentives in the form of meal reimbursements to either establish or expand school breakfast programs. Currently, one in eight Minnesota children struggle with hunger.

“Child hunger is not a partisan issue, and through this legislation, we can make it easier for students to gain access to healthy and nutritious food so that they can have a productive start to every school day,” said Senator Anderson.

Nationwide studies have shown that eating breakfast at school has a positive effect on academic success and school attendance. While many Minnesota schools have already implemented a “Breakfast after the Bell” program, this legislation expands their flexibility, offering “grab and go” breakfast opportunities, “breakfast in the classroom”, and “second chance breakfast” opportunities where students have access to breakfast foods later in the morning. Championed by Second Harvest Heartland and other public-private partners, “Breakfast after the Bell” has been proven successful, increasing the breakfast consumption rate at one Minnesota high school from 25-50 students to upwards of 350.

“By reducing barriers to school breakfasts, we can foster healthy cognitive and physical development,” added Senator Anderson. “Ultimately, that leads to overall student success. I will continue to champion these efforts and strive to provide healthy environments for all Minnesota students.”