Representatives of food banks , school lunch administrators , and other town and school officials from across the state converged at Rockville High School in Vernon last Tuesday for what was termed a “ listening session” with U . S . Rep . Joe Courtney .

The event doubled as a rally for support for a bill heading to Congress , as well as the programs and implementations that are expected to follow it .

Lucy Nolan , executive director of End Hunger Connecticut ! ( EHC ) said Congress is scheduled to act on the reauthorization of childhood nutrition programs in the next six months .

“ We’ve already begun , ” she said . “ Their bill’s already in the hopper . ”

She added that the programs , essential to feeding the nation’s children , include school lunch programs ( including school breakfast ) , summer feeding programs , day care and after-school meals , and the Women , Infant and Children ( WIC ) program .

“ These are really needed now more than ever , ” Nolan said . “ Participation in these programs has increased significantly . ”

Eleven percent of households in Connecticut , Nolan said , are affected by “ food insecurity , ” meaning that somehow their ability to get food is disrupted . Connecticut also ranks last in the nation for number of schools that serve breakfast .

“ However , ” Nolan said , “ we’ve moved from 47 th to 40 th for the number of kids getting a school breakfast . ”

The National School Lunch Act was passed in 1946 , when youngmen were showing up to draft boards and failing their physicals . “ If Congress were to write it today , ” Ellen Teller of the Food Research and Action Center in Washington , D . C ., said , “ it would probably look exactly the same . ”

She read part of that act that states , “ It is hereby declared to be a policy of Congress , as a measure of National Security … to safeguard the health and well-being of the nation’s children . ”

According to Teller , a recent commission of military generals reached the same conclusion – that today’s youthare not healthy enough to serve , and are flunking physicals .

Teller said there are three principles driving the efforts for the 2009 Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act ; Expansion of access and participation in these programs , especially for low-income children ; Improvement of meal quality ; and Modernization of the administration of the programs .

Teller said the bill would flow nicely after the healthcare reform bill , since many of the programs pertain to health promotion and disease prevention .

“ We see that we’re in the on-deck circle , ” she said . “ When we get up to bat , we will continue to send players around the bases . ”

EHC’s Child Nutrition Policy Director , Dawn Crayco , said EHC’s studies found that summer meal programs , funded federally , are based on the average income of a geographical area , rather than by the incomes of individual families . So , there are a number of families that could benefit , but simply do not have access to the program .

“ An administrative change that could dramatically open lines of access to children [ would be to ] increase the lines of the area-eligibility test , ” Crayco said , adding that 50 percent of children in a given area must reach the income threshold – a number that is “ too high . ”

The act will also address a gap that exists in school-based meals .

Monica Pacheco , Food Services director for Vernon Public Schools , said she has seen positive changes in the standards of reimbursements for schools that improve the nutritional content of meals . However , the cost of school lunches would still have to increase , in order to offset the costs of the underfunded free lunch programs .

“ We have also seen a dramatic increase in the number of families who qualify for free and reduced-price meals , ” Pacheco said .

Courtney said he is optimistic about the bill being funded .

“ In my opinion , by looking around this administration , … there are people who are passionate that we’ve got to switch our priorities , domestically , towards youngAmericans , ” he said . “ A big part of it is this plan . The forces are aligned in a good place right now to get this done . ”

He added that the efforts of groups and individuals also need to continue .

“ Groups like the TVCCA , the Norwich School system , and the Vernon school system [ need ] to keep pounding away at the obvious need that exists out there , ” Courtney said .

Courtney cited studies of how stimulus monies are being used , and to what extent they shortening the recession .

“ This issue … has a great economic benefit , in terms of the U . S . economy , ” he said . “ For every dollar spent on food stamps , the multiplier effect of the boost it gives to economic activities is $ 1 . 84 . That’s actually a higher multiplier than unemployment benefits , infrastructure spending , technology , and other programs . ”

Rep . Karen Jarmoc of Enfield ( 59 th district ) , co-chair of the House task force on children in the recession , said the recession is expected to send an additional 35 , 000 children in the state into poverty .

Last week , Jarmoc and her daughter shadowed a family that utilizes the Enfield Food Shelf .

“ We are trying to get by on the food that the family would receive from the food shelf , ” she said . “ Quite honestly , I already know that we are not going to get by . ”