2009 is the year that School Food could get an over-haul.  Every 5 years the National School Lunch Program is reauthorized and 2009 is our next chance to make possitive change.

We need to make some significent changes:

Increase the reimbursement rate by $1.00 per lunch in the short term and in the long-term mandate Universal Breakfast and Lunch

The additional funding should be mandated to be spent on fresh unprocessed foods with a priority on fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains

We need money for facility updates so that schools can cook and funding for professional development so that food service workers know how to cook

Funding for hands-on experiential learning in cooking and gardening classes is necessary to help change our children’s relationship to food and funding for positive marketing to make school food – cool food

And finally we need to raise the school food guidelines so that Chicken Nuggets – Tater Tots – Chocolate Milk and Canned Fruit Cocktail is not considered a “healthy” meal

Sign on to a petition by the Healthy Schools Campaign to help make these changes possible: http://www.healthyschoolscampaign.org/getinvolved/action/childnutrition/action.php