Blog & Food Journal

               I just recieved an email from Elizabeth Kucinich, Director of Government and Public Affairs of PCRM:

              " The PCRM Legislative Fund (PCRM LF) has continued to work hard on Capitol Hill to promote nutrition and compassionate medical research, testing, and training.

                 Currently, our efforts are focused on the reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act, which will be considered by the House Education and Labor Committee over the next few weeks. After months of hard work with Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO) to promote H.R. 4870, the Healthy School Meals Act, a bill that would help schools purchase and serve healthful plant-based options, we were very disappointed to learn the provisions of this important bill were not included in the draft of the larger reauthorization bill, which was introduced recently by Chairman George Miller (D-CA).
As you know, the Healthy School Meals Act provides tools that allow schools to offer more plant-based options, like veggie burgers, which are low in saturated fat and free of cholesterol, as well as being kid-friendly. A pilot program would introduce these foods to schools for free and then help make them more affordable through the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Chairman Miller’s bill offers schools an incentive of an additional 6 cents per lunch if they meet new nutrition standards, including less saturated fat and more fruits and vegetables. But without access to healthier, plant-based protein options to replace some of the saturated fat that's currently in the center of the plate, it will be difficult for schools to meet these standards and therefore get the extra funding to help them buy more healthy food. It’s a catch-22.

                        In the next few weeks, Chairman Miller and the Education and Labor Committee will consider amendments that could add important provisions of the Healthy School Meals Act into the reauthorization bill. This is a huge opportunity to help get schools on the right track toward improving nutrition and reducing childhood obesity.

  Please join our team of citizen lobbyists and contact your member of Congress to ask him or her to support H.R. 4870, the Healthy School Meals Act, and include its provisions in the Child Nutrition Act reauthorization. Dozens of celebrities, including Sean Penn, Sarah Silverman, Bob Harper of The Biggest Loser, Ellen DeGeneres, Portia de Rossi, and Woody Harrelson, have contacted Congress to express their support for the Healthy School Meals Act. Together, we can work to give all children the healthful options they deserve."

      To read the letter Leona Lewis wrote to congress click here. 

    We have the opportunity to make a change here. If we don't take action then we have no right to complain when our kids are stuck with greasy processed foods that lead them to un-healthy lifestyles. Let's take this opportunity to make a change!