As a founder of a Colorado charter school, I know that parents are very frustrated with what’s served at school for lunch and snacks. That’s why I’ve tried to come up with healthy school lunch recipes on my blog, My Readable Feast. At least your child can bring their own healthy meals to school.
Still parents want healthier choices – less fat, sugar and salt, less processed junk food, and more organic and locally grown produce – for their child’s hot lunch. It’s a chore to pack a nutritious lunch every day, especially when your child doesn’t have access to a microwave or refrigerator. And parents know that kids who eat better perform better academically and socially.
The Child Nutrition Act – a major piece of federal legislation that helps determine school food policy and resources – will go before Congress in 2009. This offers the opportunity to create a future for school food in which fresh, healthy meals are the norm and all children have access to the type of comprehensive nutrition education that creates healthy habits for a lifetime.
Want to change the future of school food and make fresh, healthy meals the norm? Sign the petition from Healthy Schools Campaign. After all, if you’re eating better as a family at home, shouldn’t your child have the same ability at school?
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This is so incredibly important! We’re in the midst of an obesity epidemic. Everyone needs to take action, whether or not you have a child.
Susan
http://www.catapultfitnessblog.com
If you saw the current government health guildines schools use now, you’d fall over. Not very healthy at all. Listen, everyone (parents, teachers, administration, school boards, etc.) wants healthier lunch, locally grown food, etc. It’s just making it easier for schools to participate in such programs. It’s a no brainer, really.
I watched “Super Size Me” and some of the bonus features. One was about school food, and it’s amazing what kind of stuff they feed the kids.
I was on a government school lunch program as a teen, and bought a large cookie, and a sunny-D every day for lunch. Looking back I can’t believe tax dollars could go towards that kind of food.
The special feature on Super Size Me on what some schools are doing to change their lunch program is worth seeing. My favorite lunch in elementary school was a 50 cent chocolate bar the 8th graders were selling to raise money for a school trip and a 5 cent milk. Or I could have had a regular lunch for 55 cents. Funny how that worked out.