Healthy School Meals Act Rewards Schools for Offering Low-Fat Options
Doctors Say Fruits, Vegetables, and Plant-Based Meals Critical to Obesity Fight

WASHINGTON—School cafeterias across the country may soon serve more fruits, vegetables, and healthy plant-based meals. A new bill in Congress would reward school districts for offering plant-based vegetarian options and healthful nondairy beverages. Making healthier options available would help schools fight obesity, comply with federal nutrition standards, and meet all children’s dietary needs, say doctors and dietitians with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM).

The Healthy School Meals Act of 2010, H.R. 4870—which will be introduced this week by Rep. Jared Polis of Colorado—would reward school districts with additional food aid if they offer most students plant-based vegetarian food choices every day. The bill, which has already drawn support from Rep. John Conyers and 30 other co-sponsors, would create a pilot program to provide select schools with high-fiber, low-fat vegetarian protein products and nondairy milk options.

~ Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine

Read the full article. (Really, it’s not long, and it has more details.)

Marilu is testifying before a Congressional committee today in support of healthy school lunches for all children. You can do your part, too. Contact your US House Representative in support of H.R. 4870, The Healthy School Meals Act of 2010, being introduced this week.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 18th, 2010 at 11:25 am and is filed under Articles - Health, Healthy Kids. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.