Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine emailed me to make me aware of legislation going through the House of Representatives right now! Join me in letting Congress know how we feel!
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Congress is writing a new law that would help schools provide healthier food for their students. Now we need your help! Learn how to lobby Congress and stand up for your health and the health of your family and all young people.
The Healthy School Meals Act of 2010, H.R. 4870 can help reverse America’s childhood obesity epidemic by enabling schools across the country to provide healthier options in the lunch line. The more people who call Congress on April 21, the greater the impact we can have. Tell your Member of Congress why YOU want healthy school meals.
Tuesday, April 20: Get ready by joining PCRM’s Elizabeth Kucinich on a
national conference call to learn about the Healthy School Meals Act and
how to lobby your Member of Congress.
Wednesday, April 21: Call to ask your Member of Congress in
Washington, D.C., to support the Healthy School Meals Act.
Learn more and sign up at
What do we need to do?
Just an FYI:
'Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine'
is an animal activist organization ~ not a committee of actual physicians…good name though, huh?
Hey, I LOVE your work and I wanted to let you and your readers know that if anyone would like help in lobbying tactics I am experienced as a social activist lobbyist and would LOVE to provide tips to people on how to really make their voice be heard if they cannot attend the conference call or simply would like a very simplistic "how to" guide on lobbying.
@anonymous Hmm, wasn't aware of that…
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is a great nonprofit organization devoted to advancing preventive medicine and ethical research. They also conduct clinical studies on diet and health. They have more than 8,000 physician members and many more dietitians, nurses, and other health care professionals.
Thanks for posting about their Lobby Day!
Thanks so much for the link. I sent my emails to Congress, feel real good about it. Let's hope for the best!
Mrs. Q, you should take a look at this link that was posted on Yahoo! News today:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_school_lunches_threat
Mrs. Q,
check this out!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_school_lunches_threat
http://www.missionreadiness.org/
thought you would find this interesting –
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100420/ap_on_he_me/us_school_lunches_threat
As a former elementary school kitchen manager I agree with much of what I see on your blog. There needs to be improvement in school lunches. Much of what you see in school lunches these days is a direct result of budget cuts. Kitchens simply don't have the staff to make everything from scratch like they used to do when I was in school. Proof is just looking at your hotdog meal. The beans came already made and pre-packaged. They only needed to be warmed up. Same with your fruit cup, pre-packaged and just needs to be chilled prior to serving. Both those items tell me this school kitchen is operating on very limited hours/staff. Whenever I would lose an employee the replacement came with 15 minutes taken away from the shift!
The above comment includes a link about the military accusing school lunches as being military risk. Sorry but what a load of $#@&!! While I agree that obesity in general is the risk I do NOT agree that school lunches are only to blame. I see a lot of brown bag lunches full of very bad choices while the good choices end up in the trash. Many parents don't realize that Susie only ate the chips and cookies! I think school lunches do play a part in childhood obesity. Other factors are lack of exercise both at school and at home. A majority of kids would rather play video games that be outside playing. Some parents are afraid to let their kids go out and play in today's society. Then you have parents who are tired after a hard day at work who find it easier to go to the drive through or pop something in the microwave rather than spend the time, the money, and the energy to make a good healthy meal at home. Our teens spend hours on the computer or their phones texting. Not too mention the homework load kids get these days which again ends up being another sedentary activity. Really there is a lot that contributes to the obesity epidemic. Lots of places to place blame. I know yur blog isn't about that but I can't help point these other factors out. While I do think the lunches can go a long ways to being healthier I am getting sick and tired of all the bashing. I do hope this legislation passes. It will be interesting to see what the government can do but I can tell you one thing that will HAVE to happen…more hours and staff for the lunch programs which means money. No way to get around that.
On a side note: My best freind is the admin. asst. to the Nutrition Manager for the school dist. I worked for. I asked her recently what she thought about all the heat the lunch programs are getting. She said they have not recieved ONE phone call about it. Not even ONE call and this is a large school dist. in northern Nevada. Interesting.
Please help to make a difference and call your representative now and tell them to support the Healthy School Meals Act, H.R. 4870. It's so easy and empowering!
To find your representative's contact info, go to http://www.healthyschoollunches.org/lobbyday and click Call Congress Today !
Thanks to everyone who has called or written already! Please spread the word!
I just read about the Healthy School Lunches Act on the Website you provided. I am not sold on the fact that this is a true solution to the problem. Even the name of the Act is misleading.
The Act proposes to replace meat and dairy with plant-based alternatives. That is not necessarily the only or best way to make our school lunches healthy.
While I am not opposed to vegetarian meals and diets, this proposal does not look like the solution we are looking for.
In a program where french fries, mashed potatoes, baked beans, and corn are considered vegetable exchanges, I fear that this proposal will only serve to load down cafeteria trays with even more simple carbs.
What our children need are BALANCED meals — with lean protein choices and vitamin and nutrient rich fruits and vegetables (not nutrient-poor options like white potatoes, rice, pasta, and corn!)
Regarding the Healthy School Lunches Act. I saw the link on your blog and got excited about reform. However, after further review I am NOT going to support this.
The bill promotes more plant based foods and vegetarian options, so as a vegetarian myself I would normally agree with this. However, vegetarian food does not always mean healthier food. Plant-based foods are still processed foods, for example soy-based "chicken" nuggets, soy-based corn dogs etc are not a big improvement over the processed chicken currently being served in schools. So given current school staffing and equipment issues I think we need to consider that this bill seems to be still promoting processed foods, which just happen to be plant based. Nutrition education and reform in this country is an absolute necessity but I don't think processed plant-based foods are the answer. We need funding towards school foodservice staff, equipment and most of all more reimbursement for FRESH VEGETABLES. Another point to consider is the ongoing debate about the health benefits/dangers of over-consumption of soy. Particularly the estrogen producing elements in soy, which migh be particularly dangerous at puberty. http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/estrogenic-effects-of-soy. There are also studies from the soy board that of course say soy is safe. The debate is still out, but I don't think our kids should be the guinea pigs.
Has anyone done a review of the potential costs and how they will be founded? If so, can you post comments or a link? I work in a school system and we keep hearing that there will have to be cuts in other areas to free up the funds needed to meet the requirements of the act. It would be great if additional funding were provided to schools as a premium for providing healthier meals.