Encourage Principals & School Board Members to Support Getting Junk Food Out of Schools
As you know, momentum is building to get soda and junk food out of schools nationwide. One remaining barrier is that many principals, school board members, and other school officials oppose such efforts for fear that their schools will lose revenue. Yet, experience is showing that switching to healthier foods does not have to cause schools to lose money.
We need your help to reach out to school officials to ask them to urge key education organizations (such as the National School Board Association, National Middle School Association, and National Association of Secondary School Principals) to support the Child Nutrition Promotion and School Lunch Protection Act. (While the current bill is set to expire at the end of 2006, its sponsors plan to reintroduce it in early 2007.)
Please send an email to school principals and school board members in your community by:
1) Locating your local principal’s and school board members’ email addresses, which are often available on school and school board websites;
2) Sending the email message below to those principals and school board members and ask them to sign the form below and email it to
Dana Roberts, CSPI, at droberts@cspinet.org (or they can fax it to 202-265-4954);
3) If you need help identifying local school officials, contact us for assistance: Dana Roberts, CSPI, droberts@cspinet.org or call 202-777-8352.
For more information on the bill, go to:
To view the bill, go to:
Thank you in advance for your help with this effort.
Suggested subject line for email to school officials: Please Help Improve School Foods
Suggested message for email to school officials:
I urge you to sign the letter below to the National School Board Association, National Middle School Association, and National Association of Secondary School Principals and urge these influential organizations to support the Child Nutrition Promotion and School Lunch Protection Act. This national bill calls on the U.S. Department of Agriculture to update its nutrition standards, set in 1979, for foods sold through vending machines, a la carte, and other venues outside of school meals to ensure that the standards are consistent with current science and address present-day concerns about children’s diets and health. The current standards no longer make sense. For instance, seltzer water and breath mints may not be sold, but chocolate candy bars and chips may be.
To sign on to the letter, please complete the form below and email it to droberts@cspinet.org or fax it to Dana Roberts at 202-265-4954. (Or you can just send an email to Dana Roberts that includes your name, title, school or school district, city, and state.) Also, please forward this email to other school board members or principals who you think would be interested in signing on. For more information or if you have questions, contact Dana Roberts at the Center for Science in the Public Interest: droberts@cspinet.org or 202-777-8352.
______________________________________________________________
National School Boards Association
National Association of Secondary School Principals
National Middle School Association
Dear :
We, the undersigned [school board members/superintendents/school principals], urge the [National School Boards Association/ National Middle School Association/National Association of Secondary School Principals] to endorse the bipartisan, bicameral Child Nutrition Promotion and School Lunch Protection Act (S. 2592/H.R. 5167). As education professionals, we value children’s health, and recognize the importance of good nutrition to children’s well-being and their ability to learn.
This bill calls on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to update its nutrition standards, set in 1979, for foods sold through vending machines, a la carte, and other venues outside of meals to ensure that the standards are consistent with current science and address present-day concerns about children’s diets and health. The current standards no longer make sense. For instance, seltzer water and breath mints may not be sold, but chocolate candy bars and chips may be.
While most areas of education are regulated at the local or state level, school food has long been a federal issue. Congress and USDA set detailed standards for school lunches and breakfasts, and the federal government invests $10 billion a year in these programs. In addition, most states and localities leave the development of dietary guidance to federal agencies.
According to USDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “students will buy and consume healthful foods and beverages – and schools can make money from selling healthful options.� Their survey of 17 schools and school districts found that, after improving school foods, 12 of the schools and districts increased revenue and four reported no change. One school district initially lost revenue after improving its foods, but later its revenues increased and even surpassed previous levels.
A national poll by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found that 90% of parents and teachers support the conversion of school vending machine contents to healthy beverages and foods. The sale of low-nutrition foods in schools undermines parents’ ability to help their children eat healthfully.
Other national education-related organizations, including National PTA, the National Education Association, and the National Association of State Boards of Education, as well as 90 health-related organizations listed below, have endorsed the Child Nutrition Promotion and School Lunch Protection Act. We urge you to join them in supporting this bill.
Sincerely,
Name __________________________________________________________
Title ____________________________________________________________
School or School District ____________________________________________
City _____________________________________ State______________
Organizations that Have Endorsed the Child Nutrition Promotion and School Lunch Protection Act
American Academy of Pediatrics
American Association for Health Education
American Cancer Society
American College of Preventive Medicine
American Dental Association
American Diabetes Association
American Dietetic Association
American Heart Association
American Medical Association
American Medical Athletic Association
American Medical Student Association
American Public Health Association
American Running Association
American School Health Association
American Society of Bariatric Physicians
Amputee Coalition of America
Arkansas Action for Healthy Kids
Arkansas Chapter, American Academy of
Pediatrics
Association of State and Territorial Public
Health Nutrition Directors
California Center for Public Health Advocacy
California Food Policy Advocates
Center for Behavioral Epidemiology and
Community Health
Center for Informed Food Choices
Center for Science in the Public Interest
Children’s Alliance (WA)
Citizens’ Campaign for Commercial-Free
Schools
Chronic Disease Directors
Community Health Partnership (OR)
Connecticut Association for Human Services
Connecticut Food Bank
Connecticut PTA
Council of State and Territorial
Epidemiologists
Department of Health and Wellness, University of North Carolina at Asheville
Directors of Health Promotion and Education
End Hunger Connecticut!
FamilyCook Productions
Fitness Forward Foundation
Florida Introduces Physical Activity and
Nutrition to Youth, Inc.
Food Play
Food Policy Council (MT)
Food Research and Action Center
The Food Trust (PA)
FoodChange (NY)
Foodshare
F.R.E.S.H. New London (CT)
The George Washington University Cancer
Institute
Hartford Food System
Healthy Planet, Healthy School Lunch Program
Hunter College of the City University of
New York
Institute for America’s Health
Iowa Dietetic Association
Kentucky School Nutrition Advocates
Kids First (RI)
Maryland Healthy Eating and Active Lifestyle
Coalition
Massachusetts Public Health Association
Memorial Health Center (WI)
Middlesex Coalition for Children, Task Force
on Childhood Hunger (CT)
Montana Food Bank Network
NAASO – The Obesity Society
National Association of Pediatric Nurse
Practitioners
National Association of School Nurses
National Association of State Boards of
Education
National Council of Jewish Women,
Connecticut
National Education Association
National PTA
National Research Center for Women &
Families
National Student Nurses Association
The New England Coalition for Health
Promotion and Disease Prevention
New York City Nutrition Education Network
New York Coalition for Healthy School
Lunches
New York State Nutrition Council
North Dakota Dietetic Association
Nutrition Council of Oregon
Oregon Hunger Relief Task Force
Parents’ Action for Children
Physicians Committee for Responsible
Medicine
Prevention Institute
Preventive Cardiovascular Nurses
Association
Produce for Better Health Foundation
Produce Marketing Association
Samuels and Associates
School Nutrition Association
Share Our Strength
Society for Nutrition Education
Society for Public Health Education
Strategic Alliance for Healthy Food and
Activity Environments (CA)
Trust for America’s Health
United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable
Association
United States Water Fitness Association
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences,
Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health
Wisconsin Dietetic Association
Yale University School of Medicine,
Prevention Research Center
Young People’s Healthy Heart Program
