Child Nutrition Bill Blocked

When the House voted on the Child Nutrition Bill yesterday, Republicans moved to amend. The Associated Press reports that the amendment to the $4.5 billion bill that would improve the nutritional quality school lunches and provide more free meals to needy kids was blocked by an amendment to require background checks on childcare workers. Which has nothing to do with nutrition. The bill passed the Senate in August.

Not that there's any rush to feed hungry kids. It's not like higher food prices have arrived. Oh wait ... they have. According to USA Today, overall food inflation has been reasonable this year - 2-3 percent. It's skyrocketing prices for items like pork (13%), butter (25%) and milk (6%) that will hit wallets hardest.

Let them eat pie! A Massachusetts teen is running a successful charity selling pies to raise money for the Greater Boston Food Bank. The Boston Globe features 15-year-old Jenny Olins, who started the Pie Project last year. She bakes a few pies a week and sells them via word of mouth for $15. The high school sophomore shares her pie techniques and future plans to be a baking English teacher.

Let's hope Jenny's not using ground nutmeg from Whole Foods. The Oregonian reports that nutmeg produced by Mincing Overseas Spice Company and sold under the Whole Foods and Frontier Natural Products labels has been recalled for possible salmonella contamination. Mincing Overseas recalled black pepper in March over salmonella fears.