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Send a Letter to a California State Representative

[Date]

[Senator] [Assemblyman] ___________
State Capitol
Sacramento, CA 94248

Dear [Senator] [Assemblyman] _______________________:

RE: School Food

My name is _______________________ and I live at ______________________________________, in your district. I am writing to you as a concerned citizen about the current condition of school food in America.

While there has been much talk of improving nutrition standards for foods which are sold out of vending machines, à la carte in the cafeteria, and in school stores, little attention has been paid to improving the nutrition standards for the school meals themselves. I respectfully request that you carefully consider both the health and social justice issues attendant to the poor quality, highly processed products that are being served daily in countless schools throughout the nation. I urge you to use your power as a state representative to increase state funding for school food and to pass state laws regulating school lunch more strictly than the current federal guidelines require.

As you know, good nutrition is critical to children's health, well being, and ability to learn. Nonetheless, the USDA's nutrition standards for foods served within the purview of the National School Lunch Program are dangerously outdated. Nutrition science has evolved since the USDA implemented its nutrition standards in the 1970s. Over the past several decades, over-consumption of calories, saturated fat, trans fat, refined sugars, and sodium have increasingly become problems in children's diets. Those constituents are largely ignored by the USDA's school nutrition standards yet contribute to obesity, heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, and tooth decay.

Under the existing federal standards, highly processed chicken nuggets, tater tots, canned fruit cocktail and chocolate milk may be – and are – regularly served to children as part of the National School Lunch Program. A primary reason for the service of such poor quality “food” is that the federal government and the State of California seriously underfund school lunch programs. This is unconscionable when the Centers for Disease Control is predicting that one of three children born since the year 2000 may develop Type II Diabetes.

The current standards do not make sense and undermine parents' attempts to feed their children healthfully. It is common sense that schools should offer children foods that provide proper nutrition to nourish their minds and bodies. I look forward to hearing from you about how you intend to address both the state funding issues related to the National School Lunch Program, and the nutrition standards for foods served in schools through the National School Lunch Program.

Sincerely,

[Name]
[Street Address]
[City] [State] [Zip]
[Phone]
[Email]