This message was in the most recent edition of the North Beach newsletter, the BeachComber. Several parents emailed us, urging us to spread the information. “The food in the schools now is terrible,” one parent emailed us. “This is our chance to make a difference. Smart food, smart children! Please help!”
We’ve got a brilliant opportunity RIGHT NOW to get better food into schools all over America, but we really need your help. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has drafted a new set of school meal standards as part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act.
If these new standards are passed, schools will have to begin replacing junk and processed foods with lovely fresh, whole ingredients and it will be the first time in 15 years that nutrition standards in schools have really improved1. If they aren’t passed, children all over America will be facing more years of substandard, unhealthy food in their schools. To me, that’s unacceptable.
The USDA is taking public comments on these proposed standards as we speak, so PLEASE, PLEASE click on the link below and tell them you want these changes! There are plenty of powerful food companies and groups that won’t want these standards passed because they make big money from the current system. They’ll be sending in their comments too so it’s up to all of us to stand against them and make our voices count. Please join me in doing this. It will only take a minute or two out of your day, but it could mean better lives for kids all over America.
Here is the link to sign the petition. “I went to the link myself and it takes about 10 seconds to complete,” Cindy writes. “You do not need to have a child in school to participate.” For more information on the new school meal standards, click here
Link to sign the petition is broken.
Fix the link…
The link should be: www dot jamieoliver dot com/us/foundation/jamies-food-revolution/usda
Sorry, I can’t post a link in a comment, so you’ll just have to insert dots and close up the spaces where it says dot
The link is fixed. Sorry bout that!
Thanks for the info. This is really an important issue for me and I was happy to add my voice to Jaime’s.
Thanks for the info. This is really an important issue for me and I was happy to add my voice to Jaime’s.
all the concerned parents ought to chip in and pay for “better food”….
unfortunately, it isn’t that cheap to eat healthy unless you grow stuff yourself.
Seriously Eric….if you buy in bulk you can get good food affordable. It costs a lot to make food processed.
In some places in Canada, they wont let your children bring unhealthy stuff to school. Never gonna see that in America…
Sorry bro, but we wont a war so we didn’t have to listen to the brits.
I’m going out on a limb. How many of you have actually eaten school lunch lately? Once a week I attend lunch at my son’s Seattle public elem. school. I bring my lunch, but several kids at the table eat school lunch and it looks neither bad tasting nor unhealthy. For instance, they occasionally get roasted potato wedges, but I’ve never seen those nasty old tater tots from my youth. There is almost always fresh fruit or cuke slices or salad – and the first graders I see eat the vegs. I support Jamie’s crusade, but here in Seattle it’s not that bad. Let’s remember to recognize what Seattle schools does right (goodness knows they have some other areas to improve!).