Slow Food's Time for Lunch Campaign

Slow Food USA, another organization (there are hundreds!) involved in the real food movement, is leading a campaign, Time for Lunch, dedicated to having citizens contact their senators and representatives about the Child Nutrition Act, which will be reauthorized by Congress this year.

According to Slow Food:

The Child Nutrition Act is a federal law that comes up for reauthorization in Congress every five years. It governs the school meal programs, which feed more than 31 million children every school day.

Right now, Congress leaves school lunch programs with only $1 per meal to pay for food. Schools do their best to stretch that dollar, but it's simply not enough to provide kids with the food they need to stay healthy and to perform well in the classroom.

The original deadline for reauthorizing child nutrition programs was September 2009, but it was temporarily extended. Congress is now expected to address school lunch in early 2010. We have until then to show Congress that kids and parents are hungry for change.

What are your kids eating at school? I’ve heard some horror stories from my clients of all socioeconomic demographics. The school lunch program is handcuffed by insufficient funding, arcane rules and government subsidies for certain crops. Our children and our society suffer because of it.

Over 100,000 people have asked their elected officials to increase funding and strengthen nutrition standards for school food. Click here to make your voice heard.

I’ll post my senator’s reply to my e-mail tomorrow.