How you can help reform the school lunch program

Last week we talked a bit about the problematic styrofoam lunch trays that many schools are sending to the landfill every day, but frankly I'm a bit more concerned about the stuff that's served on those trays. Here's the thing: the child nutrition programs, which include the nationwide school lunch program, will be coming up for renewal by Congress this spring. This only happens once every five years. According to Slow Food International's Time for Lunch program, the government reimburses schools $2.68 for every meal served to a child who qualifies for free lunch. After overhead expenses the schools really only have about $1 to spend on each lunch. Have you seen what $1 gets a kid for lunch? Blergh. However, now that President Obama has declared a freeze on domestic program funding, it seems really unclear whether necessary additional funding will be awarded, so maybe it's a moot point. (Or as Joey Tribbiani would say, a 'moo' point.) But among healthy school lunch advocates, hope remains that some additional funding will be granted. 

Here in Portland, I don't think it's as bad as in other school districts (but it is far from great, and I only let my kids eat it once a week). Portland's kids have a fresh fruit and veggie bar, and occasionally some locally-sourced food, in addition to the usual processed fare. But there is a fascinating blog by an anonymous teacher from Illinois that you must check out if you feel strongly about school lunch. It's called Fed Up with School Lunch, and this teacher is eating, photographing and blogging about the hot lunch served in her school every day in 2010 (or until she is outed and fired). The food is horrifying.

The sad thing is that 18 million children in the US qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and for many this is their only hot meal of the day. The typical hot lunch is massively over-processed and of dubious origin. It's the kind of food that is contributing to the rise of obesity and diabetes in the US. (FYI: Oprah is doing a show on this epidemic today.) In December, USA Today released a report claiming that school lunch meat doesn't even meet the standards of many fast food chains. Something is terribly wrong here.

What can you do? You aren't going to like it, but truly, contacting your congresspeople is the best way to make reform happen. They need to hear that their constituents demand more money for healthier school lunches. An additional $1 per child could have a huge impact on the quality and source of food served in the schools. Actually, Slow Food is pushing for three specific changes:

• Find the funding to give school lunch programs an additional $1 per child per day
• Protect kids from the junk food sold in vending machines located in schools
• Link schools to local farms to teach healthy eating. Guarantee $50 million for Farm to School programs.

I am sending a short, to-the-point message to my two US Senators and two Representatives because they need to hear from me. And you. You can find contact info at Congress.org by entering your zip code. If you're really motivated, talk your school principal and get her/his read on it, and see if you can organize a school-wide letter-writing campaign. THAT should send a message!