More and more schools are becoming involved in school meal reform and are learning the importance a well balanced diet has on school performance. During Food Day we will be teaching healthy affordable cooking methods, harvesting vegetables, sampling fresh vegetables from the garden and learning where our food comes from. Take part in your area and get involved with national Food Day!

Brought to you by MAT@USC Masters in Teaching

Although the plan sounds great many of us have been wondering if it really is being put into action. In January, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released recommended nutrition guidelines. If school cafeterias don’t meet USDA-established guidelines they can’t receive federal reimbursements for school meals. The new guidelines call for more fruit and vegetables along with less sodium. Although these changes may seem small, they are absolutely imperative. Almost one in three kids and teens, which adds up to about 23 million youngsters, weigh in as obese or overweight.

If you are in support of these new USDA guidelines, PlantingProgress encourages you to sign the petition to support USDA efforts to ensure healthy school meals. We have until April 13th to make a difference.

These underserved urban and rural areas are called ‘food deserts’. USDA recently launched a Food Environment Atlas (www.ers.usda.gov/FoodAtlas/) where food deserts can be identified.

“Encouraging people to choose fresh, nutritious food is important,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. “But to achieve that goal that kind of food must be available, and in far too many parts of our country — both urban and rural communities — that’s not the case.

-Communityofgardeners.com

Efforts stemmed from grassroots organizations to The U.S. Department of Agriculture and of course The First Lady. It’s beginning to feel like fundamentally things are starting to change and not just by radical healthcare reform.  People, especially children, are beginning to realize the change starts with education.

This week a U.S. Department of Agriculture official visited an elementary school in southwestern Minnesota on Friday to present a healthy schools challenge award. Children are being recognized for their involvement in physical and nutritional challenges as well as encouraged by leaders.  Many grassroots organizations hosted challenges of their own and encouraged the change to happen from home too. Parents were taught creative ways to pack healthier school lunches for their children and to get involved with their local school.  In Oakland, the OUSD’s Nutrition Services team served sustainably raised grass-fed beef for the entire week.

Although National School Lunch Week has seemed to be a success, it is a wonder whether or not this movement will continue to grow or fall short to budget problems and nay sayers.  Planting Progress supports the efforts of schools across the country and encourages them to make healthier decisions on a daily basis- not just when the President declares a week to do so.

Barack Obama officially endorsed this week on Friday, October 8th and has called upon Americans to support administers of the National School Lunch Program in ways to encourage healthy life style choices of children of the United States of America

This is all proposed with much support from The First Lady Michelle Obama and her Let’s Move Initiative. In the Let’s Move Initiative, Chefs are pairing with schools to teach healthy and creative lunch preparation, schools are partnering up with local farms to provide locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables for school meals, and children are taking part in the HealthierUS School Challenge to encourage physical activity and well balanced diets.

Planting Progress is proud to be an advocate of The First Lady’s Let’s Move Initiative! Planting Progress encouraged the addition of school gardens and garden-based learning curriculum to the Let’s Move Initiative.

We hope that you can take part in National School Lunch Week by supporting healthier decisions in cafeterias, promoting the interaction between school districts and local farms, and encouraging nutritional & physical education.

One of the issues proponents of school meal reform argue, is that the quality of meat served in the fast food industry is higher than that served in school cafeterias. Over the last few years this has been a major issue stimulating conversation from the break room to Congress.

Most schools heavily rely on the government to provide their staple meat products including beef and chicken.  Although the U.S. Department of Agriculture claims that all food provided to the schools, “meets or exceeds standards in commercial products” many can argue that statement as being simply untrue.  It has been said that fast food restaurants such as KFC and Jack In The Box and even Campbell’s Soup would not use the meat given to the schools as their product.  How can we expect our children to preform well in school when the meat given to them was denied by KFC, on it’s way to compost and ended up on their plate?

Startling reports suggest that both Burger King and McDonalds check for bacteria and dangerous pathogens 5 to 10 times more often that the USDA test beef made for school lunches!

Another disturbing issue is the lack of follow-through in federally mandated cafeteria inspections. Just like restaurants, school cafeterias are required to be inspected for food quality and safety at least twice a year. Unfortunately, this is not happening all over the country.

Despite whether or not congress agrees to allocate more money to school lunch reform, things can still be changed.

1)  It is the public’s right to have access to cafeteria inspection reports.  If a school has a cafeteria inspection report the public has the right to see it and if they don’t the public can demand they get one.

2)  Most schools are given their meat from the government but have a choice in where they buy their produce and other food.  Local farm to school interaction can be encouraged.

Most people agree that our standards for school lunch nutrition is unacceptable.  Over time, hopefully soon, these standards will change.

References: USA Today, CNN