Tell Congress: Don't Cut Food Stamps to Fund School Lunch Reform

How We Won

Dec 02, 2010

Everyone from public health advocates to sustainable food organizations to First Lady Michelle Obama pushed Congress to reform school lunch. In December of 2010, President Obama signed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act into law, giving school lunches a much-needed overhaul. Change.org worked hard to pressure Congress to approve this legislation. More than 1,000 Change.org members signed the Food Research and Action Center's (FRAC) petition asking lawmakers to approve the Child Nutrition Act. Getting the school lunch reform bill passed required a collaborative effort, and Change.org members definitely played a role in the campaigning.

UPDATE 12/02/10: The House voted in favor of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, ushering in school lunch reform. The move came after more than 15,000 Change.org members signed a petition supporting the Child Nutrition Act and more than 1,000 members urged Congress to reform school lunch without cutting future funds to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), aka food stamps.  While the bill still includes SNAP cuts, President Obama and Congressional leaders have promised to fix these reductions. Read the full story here.

The pending Child Nutrition Act would finally reform school lunch by improving meal quality and enrolling more students in the free- and reduced-cost lunch program. But here's the big caveat: Some lawmakers want to fund the child nutrition bill by slashing future food stamp benefits by $2.2 billion.

Cutting food stamp funds would mean that recipients would receive a little less money each week. That means folks can buy less food, or they can buy less healthy food.

Tell Congress that we can't give kids better lunches at the expense of taking away their dinners. Sign our petition asking lawmakers to pass the Child Nutrition Act without cutting food stamp benefits.

Recent Signatures