April 1, 2010 • Charity/Causes, Community Events, Education, Farms, Fruits, General Philosophy, Politics, Things to Do, Vegetables

How to Support Better Food in Schools

In contrast to the morels post this one is a quickie.

Signing takes less than 30 seconds.

Our schools should be setting an example of how to eat fresh, healthy, and delicious food. They are — after all — feeding the minds of our children… both figuratively and literally. Additionally, schools should not be a place where advertisers market their brands.

Jamie Oliver is campaigning hard to get better food supplied and served in school lunchrooms across the United States. He has a highly visible soapbox to stand on and a potentially receptive Washington, D.C. to convince. It’s great they are considering it, but they were in 2007, too. And here is an attempt from 1979!!! Please help let our Congress know that childhood health is nonpartisan and that it cannot wait! We need to feed our kids instead of just talking about it.

Here are other informative websites and organizations to check out:

One Tray Farm to school program: Nourishing the Nation one tray at a time
Lunch Box Advocates “Our kids deserve food with better standards than a highly processed cheap meal with no limits on salt or sugar content.”
Center for Science in the Public Interest Be sure to check out the reports on school food and on food advertising in schools. They also have a petition.

Don’t forget to sign Jamie Oliver’s petition, too.

(Apologies for being so serious on April Fools Day. You can retroactively read about kudzu companion planting if you are disappointed).

TAGS: cafeteria, farm to school, junk food, laws, nutrition, public schools, school food

Eliza Lord

I'm a Greenville, SC native (the Appalachian foothills) who wears the hats of Greenville Master Gardener & Upstate Master Naturalist. I love to write about food and sustainability.

4 thoughts on “How to Support Better Food in Schools”

Meredith - April 1, 2010 4:11 pm

I’ve signed. Thanks for the heads up. I was horrified a few years ago to hear some of my sister’s students (she teaches oboe lessons) talking about grabbing a Red Bull from the vending machine at school. I proceeded to get a very thorough education about what is available now in cafeterias, including branded fast-food merchandise full of caffeine, HFCS, salt, etc.

Off to read your kudzu post. I’ve got one in draft just now, not sure when it’ll run, but probably not until after I get some pictures of this year’s crop. 😉
.-= Meredith´s last blog ..the very air is loud with spring =-.
Kara - April 1, 2010 5:18 pm

I’ve been following Jamie’s shows and quite pleased he is diving in to help improve school food. I was very surprised at the amount of waste going into the bin every day. And all the students making faces at fresh veggies.
But for maximum impact, Jamie needs to work with gardeners to form programs that will teach people how to grow some veg, and then learn to cook it. There are soooo many needy people out there that have houses with front and back lawns. Think of the impact it would have if everyone grew SOMETHING, even if it was just baby lettuce in a window box.
Sylvana - April 1, 2010 7:23 pm

I have tried sending my son to school with a lunch from home for this very reason – too much garbage in the school’s food and not enough food. And he would come home and tell me how his friends were jealous that he got real food to eat – so I think that kids would really go for some good food.
.-= Sylvana´s last blog ..What the Duck? =-.
David - April 3, 2010 6:50 pm

It’s also worth mentioning the Growing Minds program that exists under the umbrella of the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP): http://growing-minds.org/

Comments are closed.