04/18/07

ADA's Public Policy Workshop Will Be Held April 23 to 25

FOR RELEASE APRIL 18, 2007

Media contacts:  Jennifer Starkey, Tom Ryan
800/877-1600, ext. 4802, 4894 or media@eatright.org
Ronald Smith, 800/877-0877

WHAT:  Champion Nutrition: the American Dietetic Association’s 2007 Public Policy Workshop

WHEN:  April 23-25, 2007

WHERE:  Renaissance Washington, D.C., Hotel, 999 Ninth Street N.W.

WHO:  More than 400 American Dietetic Association members, primarily registered dietitians, from all parts of the country will attend.

WHY:  The Public Policy Workshop gives ADA members information and tools to advocate effectively for policies that improve people’s health and well-being through nutrition. Attendees will receive updates on legislation and policy aspects of national issues with food and nutrition implications including farm policy, particularly the 2007 Farm Bill, and medical nutrition therapy in Medicare and Medicaid.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D.-Mass.) will receive ADA’s 2007 Public Policy Leadership Award in recognition of his efforts to change, improve and strengthen nutrition-related public policy, notably in nutrition provision in the newly reauthorized Ryan White CARE Act. The award will be presented Wednesday, April 25, at a breakfast session in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill.

ADA members will meet with Senators and Congressmen on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, April 25. Topics to be discussed include:

  • Support for S. 971 to create a National Institute for Food and Agriculture, with $1 billion of new federal funding for food, nutrition, agriculture and environment research and extension. ADA is also asking Congress to preserve and adequately fund the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Human Nutrition Research Centers. It is likely this measure will be offered as an amendment to the 2007 Farm Bill when the Senate Agriculture Committee considers the bill.
  • Issuing the Dietary Guidelines for Americans every 10 years, making them more valuable and less confusing to consumers; and fulfill the requirements for the Dietary Guidelines by carrying out both research and educational components that cannot be accomplished when the Dietary Guidelines are updated every five years. This issue may come up during consideration of the Farm Bill.
  • Making USDA’s food assistance programs available to those in need and adequately funded. Help beneficiaries use food stamps for diets consistent with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans with incentives and nutrition education. Food assistance authority resides in the Farm Bill as well.
  • Supporting a bill introduced by U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D.-N.Y.) to require state Medicaid programs to cover screening and treatment — including medical nutrition therapy — for diabetes. ADA also will seek support for legislation to give Medicare the authority to expand medical nutrition therapy benefits that currently are limited to beneficiaries with diabetes and/or kidney disease.

Scheduled Public Policy Workshop speakers include:
Monday, April 23:

  • 10:30 a.m.: Nutrition in the 2007 Farm Bill, Beth Johnson, Deputy Chief of Staff, USDA
  • 5 p.m.: U.S. Rep. Fred Upton (R.-Mich.), member of House Energy and Commerce Committee

Tuesday, April 24:

  • 8 a.m.: U.S. Rep. Jo Bonner (R.-Ala.), member of House Agriculture Committee
  • 2 p.m.: Margaret Bogle, Executive Director, Lower Mississippi Delta Nutrition Intervention Research Initiative, USDA

Wednesday, April 25:

  • 8 a.m.: U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D.-Fla.), member of House Appropriations Committee (session will be in Dirksen Senate Office Building Room G-50)

Speakers and times are subject to change. For more information and a complete agenda, e-mail media@eatright.org or call ADA at 800/877-1600, ext. 4802 or 4894, or 800/877-0877.

With more than 65,000 members, the American Dietetic Association is the nation’s largest organization of food and nutrition professionals. The Chicago-based ADA serves the public by promoting optimal nutrition, health and well-being. Visit ADA at www.eatright.org.


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