Dear [Insert name of member of Congress]:
Currently the United States Department of Agriculture
(USDA) invests only $2.68 on average per day for each
eligible student’s school lunch. This is not enough
money to ensure our children are being fed high quality,
healthy meals. In a nation where 30 percent of
our children are overweight, we can't afford to keep
feeding our children unhealthy food just because it is
cheap. Our kids deserve better.
We are growing a generation of Americans without the
skills they need to choose healthy foods. We have created
a system where eating habits learned early in life contribute
to a host of costly health problems as we age. Who would
have thought that it was possible to raise a generation
where one out of every three Caucasians and one out of
every two blacks and Hispanics would have diabetes in
their lifetime, many before they graduate high school?
Sadly, the generation of kids born in the year 2000 is
facing that future, a future in which they may be the
first generation in over a century to die at a younger
age than their parents
[Insert a paragraph highlighting your personal connection
to the issues surrounding school food reform here].
I am asking you to devote an extra dollar a day to the
school lunch program. One more dollar can help
ensure there are fresh vegetables, fruits and whole grains
in the meals our children eat at school. More
money is not enough, I am also asking that you support
implementation of the proposed Institute of Medicine
(IOM) School Food Guidelines because I want to be assured
that more funding is equated to healthier food.
This investment is small, but can have a huge impact
on the health of our nation. Please vote to add one more
dollar a day to the National School Lunch Program and
the implementation of the IOM Guidelines when the Child
Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act comes before your
committee or to the floor for a vote.
By reauthorizing the Child Nutrition Act with this addendum,
you can provide our children with a healthier life and
future.
Sincerely,
[Insert name and address here] |
