Proclamation 6483—National School Lunch Week, 1992

When the National School Lunch Act was adopted in 1946, the United States affirmed its commitment "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." Over the years the National School Lunch Program has brought nutritious meals to millions of school-age childrn, thereby fostering their physical and intellectual development. By helping to ensure that every student enters the clasroom ready to learn, today's School Lunch Program contributes to a key aim of AMERICA 2000, our national strategy to achieve excellence in education.

The National School Lunch Program currently provides wholesome, well-balanced meals to more than 24 million children daily. These lunches promote learning and achievement by giving children the energy and stamina that they need to pay attention and to participate in the classroom. School lunches also provide children with an opportunity to devleop healthy eating habits for a lifetime.

Many improvements have been made in the School Lunch Program over the years, and Federal food assistance in our schools now includes a School Breakfast Program as well. Parents, principals, and teachers have joined with school food service personnel and Federal, State, and local officials in improving the qualaity, appearance, and nutritional value of school meals. Students have also become more aware of the importance of good nutrition and have become involved in nutrition advisory committees. This week, we recognize all of the professionals and volunteers who help to ensure the success of the School Lunch Program in more than 92,000 schools and residential child care institutions across the country.

In recognition of the contributions of the School Lunch Program to the health and well-being of children, the Congress, by joint resolution approved October 9, 1962 (Public Law 87-780), designated the week beginning on the second Sunday of October of each year as "National School Lunch Week" and requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of that week.

Now, Therefore, I, George Bush, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the week beginning October 11, 1992, as National School Lunch Week. I encourage all Americans to recognize the dedicated and hardworking individuals who contribute to the success of the School Lunch Program.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of October, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-two, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and seventeenth.

GEORGE BUSH