FIGHT FOR BETTER SCHOOL LUNCHES
Want healthier lunch options at your school? Want to improve nutrition for kids in your city, district and state? Campaign to improve the quality of school lunches!
When it comes to eating at your school cafeteria, do you feel stuck between unhealthy food choices? Is your school lunch menu lacking in fresh fruits and vegetables, and heavy on the grease or fried entrees? That's a recipe for unhappy, unhealthy kids!
Menus in most North American school lunch programs are too high in saturated fat and cholesterol and too low in fiber, nutrient-rich fruits and vegetables, whole grains and legumes. Major changes are needed if we're going to reverse the growing trends of obesity, early-onset diabetes, and hypertension, among other chronic diseases, in children and teens.
WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT:
Raise your voice! Sometimes, all it takes to get a major change started, is for a few people to start making noise about an issue. Be an advocate for healthier food in schools, starting with your own! Educate your friends, teachers and parents about this issue, and why it's a problem that deserves serious attention.
HOW TO GET STARTED:
Give a Presentation
Ask your teacher if you can do a presentation for your class, on healthy alternatives for the school lunchroom. You might want to talk about the awesome overhaul of the English school cafeteria system, spearheaded by hot young chef Jamie Oliver - get info on that at this webpage. A similar project was recently started in Idaho, which you can read about here. You can also download great ready-made info sheets, presentations and brochures on this subject from the USDA Food and Nutrition Service.
Write to Congress
Write to Congress and demand that the government improve school nutrition programs! You can do this in a snap, by filling in the prepared form at the Take Action website.
