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What do you think is the most effective way to turn this idea into real policy? Add your suggestions here for how you think we should run an advocacy campaign to advance the idea – including the overall strategy, messaging, targets, and tactics.

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  1. Aaron Norcia

    I'm curious if the petition would mandate extra funding for new lunch options? Or would the budget be stretched even further, possibly losing something academic.

    Suggested by Aaron Norcia on 10/30/2009 @ 01:12PM PT

  2. Washita Katz

    Hey, if you don't like what the schools are serving, what ever happened to packing your kid's lunch? Or even better, teaching them to pack their own? Parents are lazy and demanding. Get off your butts. Why do we taxpayers have to pay for everyones special little dietary preferences?

    Suggested by Washita Katz on 10/18/2009 @ 12:24PM PT

  3. Charles Hancock

    http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/ann_cooper_talks_school_lunches.html

    Be Helpful Not Hurtful

    http://behelpfulnothurtful.blogspot.com/

    Suggested by Charles Hancock on 10/08/2009 @ 06:31AM PT

  4. Gavin Palpallatoc

    i  dont know how your viewing this problem, the healthyness of the food is not even a problem at all, kids are going to eat watever they want....the only problem with school lunches is that it needs to be cheaper and have alot more food in a serving the schools would even benefit because less kids would be stealing food from schools and buying it

    Suggested by Gavin Palpallatoc on 06/27/2009 @ 05:13PM PT

  5. Michelle Andria

    I have found that schools and teachers are more open to parent's suggestions than one might think. I believe it is best to start on the local level: join the PTA, be a school board member and be an advocate for vegan food options. My hope would be if more schoools offer this, our voices would be heard louder on the national level.

    Suggested by Michelle Andria on 04/24/2009 @ 01:49PM PT

  6. kathleen wissenz

    All schools should offer vegan school lunch options for vegan children. A vegan diet teaches children about compassion for animals, caring about the environment, and has health benefits. Children are the future!

    Suggested by kathleen wissenz on 04/21/2009 @ 07:28PM PT

  7. Barbara Gates

    Lean and Green Schools advocates for plant based vegetarian school lunches, which will give ALL children and their planet a brighter future.  We join and endorse this the Idea for Change.  Visit us at LeanAndGreenSchools.com

      The National School Lunch Program serves over 30 million school lunches a day; close to 6 billion lunches a year! Thats more than McDonalds serves annually around the world!! 

                  By addressing quite possibly the single greatest "market" in America, we address our single greatest hope for change.   

    I was at my son's high school today and I visited the school cafeteria as they prepared for the lunch rush.  There were 5 chicken selections, one beef selection, and pepperoni pizza. There were also racks upon racks of chips and pastries. There were no vegetables that I could see and certainly no creative plant based vegetarian lunch options.


    The children who rely most on the NSLP free and reduced price school lunches are the very children who are most at risk for diet related disease. Schools are in essence "teaching" future generations to eat in a way that causes disease and inhibits better learning, while at the same time devastates our children's planet.   

     Our educational institutions  must  find  a  better   way. 

    While there are unquestionable societal and financial challenges to attaining our goal -- we must remind policy makers and Food Service Personnel - and ourselves - that OUR CHILDREN ARE WORTH IT!  

    And we, as parents and food or eco activists must work diligently - and patiently - within the broken USDA system to fix the broken system.    Visit LeanandGreenSchools.com  to learn more.

    Suggested by Barbara Gates on 04/08/2009 @ 01:49PM PT

  8. Amie Hamlin

    New York Coalition for Heatlhy School Food, a statewide non-profit, supports the inclusion of a plant-based option as a healthy choice in school meals. To learn more about our work, click here: http://www.healthylunches.org/learn_more_1.htm (our website will be completely redesigned in about 3 weeks, so check back for a much improved site). By reading this you'll get some ideas about how you can promote healthy food in schools, based on our pilot projects.

    We wrote and got passed a NYS legislative resolution requesting a plant-based option as a healthy choice, farm to school programs, nutrition education that includes information on vegetarian/vegan and multicultural eating patterns, and more. This is not a law but it is a recommendation, and it passed unanimously in the spring of 2004.

    It's important to understand that schools have very little money to work with to provide a healthy lunch. There is only about 90 cents to provide a 5 component meal, and about 20 cents of that is in the form of commodity foods, provided "free" to schools, compliments of our federal tax dollars. Many of the entrees depend on these commodities, and the most common entrees served are: chicken nuggets, mozarella sticks, cheeseburgers, and pizza. To create change, talk to your elected officials at both the federal and state levels, letting them know how important it is to increase the reimbursement rates for school meals. On a more local level, talk to your superintendent, school board, and business superintendent. If you talk to the food service director understand that they are under unbelieveable pressure and they do not receive any of the school budget dollars. Instead they must be a self supporting department and it is very hard for them to make ends meet. That's why so many rely on selling processed junk food. Think of ways you can help to make positive changes happen without costing them more money and time, as these are very real constraints that they have. Stay tuned for more suggestions.

    Suggested by Amie Hamlin on 03/27/2009 @ 08:27PM PT

  9. Jane Bock

    Physician's Committe for Responsible Medicine has done a lot in the area of healthy school lunches. Go to their web site at www.pcrm.org to sign a petition and to see how to get involved locally.

    Suggested by Jane Bock on 03/18/2009 @ 12:32PM PT

  10. Martha Muehe

    www.rawYum.com rawYum™ foods are super healthful and economical and environmentally sustainable. :)

    Suggested by Martha Muehe on 03/18/2009 @ 05:47AM PT

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