Support Healthy School Meals? Tell Congress to Put Students First!

This week the House of Representatives will be voting on the Fiscal Year 2015 Agriculture Appropriations Bill, which includes language that would allow a waiver from updated nutrition standards for some schools. Unfortunately, the call  to Congress to scale back nutrition standards is not coming from students or their parents – the very people school meals are intended to serve. Congress needs to hear your voice!

PTA members have long supported science-based nutrition for school meals, as referenced in PTA’s position statement on Nutrition of Children and Families.  So what exactly may Congress do? Despite the fact that 90% of school districts are reporting implementing healthy school meals, Congress now wants to roll back nutrition goals around salt, whole grains, and access to fruits and vegetables and nutritious snacks. And they’re attempting to do it through an appropriations bill, which isn’t intended to be used to make policy changes. Instead, Congress should be working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to identify any necessary changes, or debate changes through a revision of the School Lunch Act, which is scheduled to be reauthorized in 2015. Tell Congress to stop playing politics with school lunch and kids!

You can email one of our US representatives and copy/paste the above message. 

This is a very important matter and deserves everyone’s attention.

 

Representative John Carney: Albert.Shields@mail.house.gov or Kristy.Huxhold@mail.house.gov

 Senator Thomas Carper: Michael_Santora@carper.senate.govbonnie_wu@carper.senate.gov

 Senator Christopher Coons: latisha_bracy@coons.senate.govmegan_o’neill@coons.senate.gov