Time for Lunch Campaign - Updated Feb. 2010 (Slow Food USA)

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It’s time to provide our children with real food at school.

This year, we have an opportunity we cannot pass up. In the fall, Congress will decide whether to update the Child Nutrition Act, which is the law that determines what 30 million children eat at school every day. By giving schools the resources to serve real food, we can build a strong foundation for our children’s health. We can teach them healthy habits that will last them through life. We can make a down payment on health care reform. We can do all of thisbut only if we help our legislators connect the dots.

And we can only do that with your help. That’s why we’re asking people everywhere to:

1. Sign the Time for Lunch petition at http://slowfoodusa.org/timeforlunch.

• Tell your friends, family, coworkers, church, groups and everyone else you know to sign it, too.
Post a link to Facebook and share it with blogs, message boards and listservs. Spread the word!

2. Attend an Eat-In in your community on Labor Day, Sept. 7, 2009.
(Visit Slow food Utah "Time for Lunch" Potluck event listing.)

• On that day, people across America will come together for public potlucks that send a clear message to legislators: It’s time to provide our children with real food at school.

• An Eat-In is a potluck. Because it takes place in public, it’s also an opportunity to bring neighbors together, get media attention and build support for getting real food in schools. Your Eat-In can take any shape or formit should reflect your community’s values. Get creative!

3. Tell your legislators in Congress that it’s time to give schools the resources to serve real food.

• The petition and National Eat-In will build momentum, but we’ll only succeed if the people with the power to make change hear that this issue is a priority in their districts.

• Contact your legislators by writing them a letter, making a phone call and inviting them to your Eat-In. Our web site can help you do it.

• The Time for Lunch Platform explains the first steps Congress needs to take in order to get real food into schools.

With your help, 2009 will mark the year this country takes its first step towards satisfying every child’s right to real food. It’s time for lunch!

About the Child Nutrition Act

The Child Nutrition Act is a federal law that comes up for reauthorization in Congress every four to five years. It governs the National School Lunch Program, which sets the standard for the food that more than 30 million children eat every school day.

In the last few decades, as school budgets have been cut, our nation's schools have struggled to serve children the real food they need.

The deadline for reauthorizing the current Child Nutrition Act is September 2009. Unless we speak up this summer, “business as usual” on Capitol Hill will let Congress pass a Child Nutrition Act that continues to fail our children.

Read our platform to learn about the actions Congress needs to take to get real food in schools. You can also learn more about school food and the Child Nutrition Act on these web sites:

• Better School Food
• The Center for Ecoliteracy
• Chef Ann
• The National Farm to School Network
• Slow Food In Schools
• School Lunch Talk

Frequently Asked Questions:

• What is Real Food?
  Real food is good at every link in the chain. It tastes good, it’s good for us, it’s good for the people who grow it, it’s good for our country and it’s good for the planet.
   
• What is an Eat-In?
  An Eat-In is a potluck. Eat-Ins bring people together to share a meal and show their support for a cause like getting real food into schools.
   
• I don't have kids in school. How can I get involved?
  There's a place for everyone in the Time for Lunch Campaign! The health of our nation's children is an issue that affects everyone, so we all have a part to play.

More FAQs »
 

Update - Take Action!

Dear members and supporters,

It's been two months since 20,000 of you came together for our national day of action to give America's children the school food they deserve. That day was a huge accomplishment for this movement – but it was only a first step.

You can be part of our next one. Congress isn't planning to make progress on child nutrition programs until the beginning of next year. We have until then to show our leaders that kids and parents across America are hungry for change.

We're going to do it by sending thousands of letters — especially letters written by kids — to our legislators' district offices over the next few months. Slow Food USA chapter leaders across the country have already gotten started, and together they've sent in over 1,300 letters. It's time for everyone to pitch in.

Help us spread the word about letter writing, and get involved in the next phase of the campaign.

Through this campaign, tens of thousands of you have invested in America's children's future by organizing and attending Eat-Ins on Labor Day, by donating money and by signing our petition. Thank you.

Over the next few months, your participation is as important as ever. If we keep growing our ranks, we can ensure that the 31 million children who benefit from school meal programs are getting the real food they need to grow into healthy, productive adults.

Thank you for spreading the word,

Josh Viertel
President

Update Feb., 2010 - First Lady Michelle Obama launches new initiative to solve the epidemic of child obesity

In February, 2010, Michelle Obama launched a new initiative to solve the epidemic of child obesity. "Let's move to get healthier food into our nation's schools," she said.

More than 31 million children participate in the National School Lunch Program. Many consume as many as half their daily calories at school. Helping schools serve real food may be the most promising way to end child obesity - but it simply can't happen unless Congress invests in healthier food in the upcoming Child Nutrition Act.

Will you send an email to your legislators to help schools serve real food?

Now that the First Lady is leading the charge to combat obesity, Congress will start debating the Child Nutrition Act this month. It's more important than ever that legislators hear directly from citizens back home.

On a conference call this week, USDA Secretary Vilsack said that the most important thing citizens can do to get healthier food into their local schools is to urge Congress to pass a strong Child Nutrition Act. This issue has broad public support, he said, but it isn't appearing in the news - so we need to make sure Congress gets the message.

That's where you come in. Even if you've already signed the Time for Lunch petition, please take a minute to email your legislators today.

Thank you, Gordon Jenkins, Advocacy Manager, Slow Food USA

Also on Slow Food Utah:

• Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution
• Let's Move – First Lady Michelle Obama
• Time for Lunch Campaign – Slow Food USA
• Slow Food Utah Potluck, Labor Day, Sept. 7 2009