{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.heitkamp.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=01f60526-15f9-4499-8897-062e737495cf", "During Breakfast with Bismarck Students, Heitkamp Touts Farm Bill Improvements to School Meals", "2013-09-16", "2013", "2013-09", "Democrat", "House", "ND", "Heidi Heitkamp", "H001069", "www.heitkamp.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "BISMARCK, N.D. \u2013 As she works to strengthen school meals, U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp received input directly from students and administrators during school breakfast at Sunrise Elementary.\r\nHeitkamp, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, also discussed with students and school officials the provisions she helped include in the Senate-passed Farm Bill to improve school meals.\r\n\u201cToday offered not only an opportunity to talk to school administrators and officials about their school meals programs, but a chance to hear directly from the students \u2013 like those at Sunrise Elementary \u2013 who are actually eating them,\" said Heitkamp. \"These programs make sure our kids get good, healthy meals, helping enable them to focus and learn more while in the classroom. I helped pass a Farm Bill in the Senate that would make crucial improvements to school meals programs, and now it's time for the House to do its part. Giving our kids every opportunity to succeed should be a priority for us all.\"\r\nAfter breakfast, Heitkamp met with a local superintendent, school principal, and heads of child nutrition programs, as well as other school and public officials, to discuss challenges related to improving school nutrition in the North Dakota Public School System.\r\nThe Farm Bill Heitkamp supported made significant improvements to our school meal programs. One provision Heitkamp helped include was the Pulse Foods Pilot Program, which would explore ways to increase the use of nutritious, North Dakota grown pulse crops in school breakfasts and lunches.\u00a0The use of pulse foods for school meals is not only a healthy option for students around the country, but it will support North Dakota farmers.\u00a0 Pulses are highly nutritious foods that are excellent sources of dietary fiber, potassium, protein and other nutrients. \u00a0\r\nHeitkamp played a key role in passing a long-term Farm Bill though the Senate in June. The overwhelmingly bipartisan bill reduces the federal deficit by more than $23 billion. The Farm Bill has been continually held up in the House of Representatives. After significant delay, the House finally passed its version of the Farm Bill, which stripped out the nutrition title. The House has yet to pass a nutrition title, or joined the Senate in appointing members to a conference committee to work out the differences between the two bills.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.heitkamp.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=01f60526-15f9-4499-8897-062e737495cf"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.573522575199604, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}