I am writing this petition to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S senate to integrate cultural foods into public schools' lunch menus and to address the issue many second-generation high school students face due to the lack of familiar and diverse food options at school. 

I request that the USDA expands the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which allows for diverse food options under its bill. Secondly, I urge USDA and the senate to work together to implement the guide ( “A Guide for School Food in Culturally Diverse Communities”) created by Alex Freedman from the Food Corps, which lays out a road map to build a “culturally appropriate” food programs at school.  

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act “makes it easier for schools to serve culturally appropriate entrees due to the variety of foods allowed under the standards. These standards help promote school-prepared meals that embrace diversity.” One solution could be expanding the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act throughout the nation to bring students healthy, and familiar cultural foods to their school lunches.

Cultural food has so many benefits when it comes to health and creating productive and confident young citizens. I conducted 3 interviews with students who told me their stories from school lunches. These voices highlight the importance of including cultural and healthy food options in school menu items. Grace went to a really small diverse public school in the inner city that did not have much funding. Despite the school being diverse, the school lunch did not reflect the diverse cultures. Grace wishes to “see more cultural foods being integrated into school lunches/cafeterias as it just spreads awareness of different cultures and diversity, and allows people to be mindful and learn about people's culture through food.”  I also interviewed Chastidy who went to a public high school in L.A. Chastidy mentioned that “it was often things like burgers, nuggets, sandwiches, milk, and juice with very little fruit.” Due to the poor quality and redundancy of the type of food offered at her school, Chastidy was forced to skip lunch and eat food at local restaurants after school. She also mentioned that the unavailability of cultural food at school contributed to breaking the food heritages of her cultural identity. 

Given the above stories and the benefits cultural foods have, the Senate and USDA at the federal level should work together to increase the budget for school lunch programs so they can get access to cultural foods.  Building on cultural food programs at school will truly help celebrate students’ different backgrounds. By using the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act and implementing the guide from Freedman, it will be easier to establish great school lunch programs that incorporate cultural foods. Here are my 3 recommendations for integrating cultural food into the national school lunch program:

1. Increase budgets to allow schools to learn about cultural foods and hire professionals that know the cultural food ingredients 
2. Expand the Health, No Hungry Act nationwide to allow more food options
3. Fund schools to buy locally prepared cultural foods for Latin, Black, Asian history months as this will help students from different backgrounds celebrate and embrace their diversity. 

Sincerely,

Lwam Gidey