I’m just getting chills reading this exciting news.
More than 80 organizations, including the School Nutrition Association, the National PTA and the American Heart Association. are putting their weight behind a bipartisan bill, introduced in Congress this week that proposes a readical overhaul of the nutritional standards for foods sold in schools, FoodNavigator.com and other news outlets reported.
The ramifications of such a bill could be tremendous. It could mean that sugary, fatty, high-caloric crap doesn’t get sold during the school day. That would be wonderful!
Lead sponsor for the measure is the long-time fan of healthy foods, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA).
“Many kids are at school for two meals a day. But instead of a nutritious school breakfast and lunch in the cafeteria, they are enticed to eat Cheetos and a Snickers Bar from the vending machines in the hallway,” Sen. Harkin said.
Selling junk food in schools, he said, “undercuts our investment in school meal programs, and steers kids toward a future of obesity and diet-related disease. Congress cannot stand idly by while our kids are preyed upon by junk-food marketers.”
Hurrah for Harkin!
And here’s another worthwhile statement from Margo G. Wootan, nutrition policy director for the Center for the Science in the Public Interest:
“When parents send their kids to school with lunch money, they shouldn’t have to worry that the money will be spent on foods that promote obesity, diabetes, and tooth decay.
“Disco-era nutrition standards don’t make sense in 2006. When you have an obesity epidemic, schools shouldn’t sell candy at recess, potato chips for lunch, and soda throughout the day.”
Read more from the Center for Science in the Public Interest about this important measure.