Stop Fattening Our Kids: Petition for a Healthy School Lunch Program

by Clay Burell · 2009-05-18 15:04:00 UTC
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What a hoot: I just googled "School Lunch Program petition" to start some research for my own petition here on Change.org, and lo and behold, I discovered that there's already a petition on Change.org for the cause.

Before copying and pasting it, I'll just note that I've already posted about the outrageous domination of the School Lunch Program by the junk food lobbyists. Their influence is unarguably a factor in the childhood obesity epidemic in America, which surely contributes to massive long-term health care costs draining the US economy in an "invisible recession" far less hypothetical than that of the McKinsey Report. It would be great to see Arne Duncan talk about this as much as he talks about standardized test scores.

Here's an eye-popping video about that lobby's presence in Washington. It's not "all about the kids" at all:
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To note the obvious, school lunches featuring more fruits and vegetables would also help schools' local farming communities, instead of sucking local dollars into the junk food conglomerates.

Here's the text of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine blog on Change.org. Please sign the petition:

School Lunch RevolutionWe need your help to revolutionize school lunches across America! Sign the Healthy School Lunch petition today.

All students have the right to have vegetarian and vegan meals available in their schools. But for 30 million children their only options are artery-clogging, high-cholesterol meats and dairy products. These bad foods are unfair and risk their health over the long run. Now is the time to ask Congress for the healthy school lunches that students deserve.

Ask Congress to amend the Child Nutrition Act to help schools provide students school lunches with more vegetables, fruits, vegetarian foods, and healthful nondairy beverages.

Help get the word out about the petition: Tell your friends about Healthy School Lunches.

Clay Burell
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