The National PTA is mobilizing its vast mommy network to improve the quality of food in schools. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has proposed new meal standards for school breakfast and lunch programs, and they’re accepting comments on the new rules. Now through April 13, PTAs at the local, state and national level are organizing their members to make their support of stricter standards known.
If you haven’t done cafeteria duty lately, you may be familiar with this topic through Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution on TV. Oliver is the British celebrity chef famous for being rebuffed by hostile lunch ladies when he tried to bring healthy cafeteria food to one West Virginia town. In his most recent show, which premiers next week, promos say he was banned from Los Angeles schools even before he arrived.
In an appearance on David Letterman this week, Oliver said we should require every child in America to learn about food and nutrition. “I say that as a parent and I say that as a human,” he told Dave. “If we don’t have it as a requirement it is child abuse.”
If you listened to Tuesday’s podcast here on the blog, you know today’s PTA member brings a vast array of knowledge and skills to the table. LHHS PTA President, business owner and local attorney Kathy Stewart is just one of many who illustrate that fact. The USDA, in enlisting the help of the PTA, is hoping to bring those talented human resources together as a catalyst for change affecting millions of schoolchildren nationwide.
Whether you’re a card-carrying PTA member or just an interested citizen, you can download the PTA’s comment letter here then sign it and submit it online here along with your name and opinion. If you agree with Jamie Oliver that kids should get more fresh fruit and veggies (locally-grown when possible) and that lunch ladies should actually be making the food not just pulling it from the freezer into the deep-fryer, now’s your chance to speak up.
