Talking Points: School Lunch Programs

Talking Points: What’s for Lunch?

• 40% of elementary schools, ¾ of middle/junior high schools and virtually all senior high schools have vending machines, school stores or snack bars which most commonly carry soft drinks, sport drinks, imitation fruit drinks, chips, and candy.

School Food Environment: Healthy Schools Campaign

What is the National School Lunch Program?

• a federally assisted meal program operating in over 101,000 public and non-profit schools and residential child care institutions
• provided nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunches to more than 30 million children each school day in 2006

How does the National School Lunch Program Work?

• cash subsidies and donated commodities from the USDA for public and nonprofit private schools and care facilities

What types of foods do schools get from USDA?

• States select entitlement foods for their schools from a list of various foods purchased by USDA and offered through the school lunch program
• USDA and DOD are working together in some ways to promote the Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Program. (USDA says they have worked with schools to help promote connections with local small farmers, but not how.)

USDA Food and Nutrition Service National School Lunch Program (July 2007):

• On June 30, 2004, Congress passed section 204 of Public Law 108-265 of the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 requiring each local educational agency that participates in the National School Lunch Act or the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to develop a local wellness policy by June 1, 2006 and implement it by the first day of the school year beginning after June 30, 2006.

Local Wellness Plans must include at least the following elements:

• Goals for nutrition education, physical activity and other school-based activities designed to promote student wellness in a manner that the Local Educational Agency, or LEA (like a school district), determines appropriate
• Nutrition guidelines for all foods available on each school campus during the school day with the objectives of promoting student health and reducing childhood obesity
• An assurance that reimbursable school meals meet the USDA regulations
• A plan for measuring implementation of the Local Wellness Plan, including designation of at least one person within the LEA to ensure that the schools meet the Local Wellness Plan

American Dietetic Association: Federally-Mandated Local Wellness Policies for School Districts

• Gym Class has, in recent years, been steadily scaled back at school in the U.S.
• During the past decade, the number of U.S. high school students attending daily physical education classes dropped from 42 to 29%.
• Nearly half of all students and 75% of high school students currently do not attend ANY physical education classes (According to National Association for Sport and Physical Education)
• An estimated 40% of U.S. school districts either have eliminated recess or are considering eliminating it (According to Rhonda Clements, President for the American Association of the Child’s Right to Play)

National Parent Teacher Association, “The Decline of Physical Activity: Why Are So Many Kids Out of Shape?

• Although foods provided through the federal school lunch and breakfast programs must meet USDA nutritional guidelines, other sources of food on school campuses are not regulated, including vending machines, school stores, fundraisers and a la carte cafeteria snack lines
• 75% of the drinks and 85% of the snacks in school vending machines are junk foods like sweetened soda, candy and chips
• Childhood obesity costs schools money, according to a PTA study that showed that obese students tend to have higher rates of absenteeism
• Many schools have found that replacing junk foods with healthier foods and beverages in vending machines has not hurt their revenue and in some cases increased their revenue
• Many studies show that improvements in the school food environment have a positive effect on students’ dietary choices while at school
• Children who participate in school meal programs have better nutritional intake than those who do not

National Parent Teacher Association: “Healthy Lifestyles – The State of Nutrition in Schools Today”

• District Food Policies can create a shared vision for child nutrition through sharing vision and language about needed change
• Implementing District Food Policies can bring exciting curriculum opportunities, allowing kids to learn in the dining room and during the lunch period

Center for Ecoliteracy: “Rethinking School Lunch Guide”

What is Farm to School?

• Agreement between schools and small local farmers to buy local produce like fruits, vegetables, honey, eggs meat and beans
• Supports local farmers and allows students to have educational visits to farms
• Healthy produce from the local area
• 33 states with operational programs
• 1,115 Farm to School Programs in the U.S.
• 99 Farm to School Programs profiled on the site listed below
• 10,867 Number of schools involved
• 706 school districts involved

National Farm to School Program

Talking Points: Getting A Grip

Getting a Grip - Introduction from Author:

"I’ve finally figured it out. I am not overwhelmed, depressed, confused, or bewildered by our world gone mad. I’m ready. I’m past ready.

I just want to go for it.

Why can’t we have a nation - why can’t we have a world we’re proud of? Why can’t we stop wringing our hands over poverty, hunger, species decimation, genocide, and death from curable disease that we know is all needless? The truth is there is no reason we can’t.

They say - whoever the “they” are - that as we age, we mellow. I don’t think so. I’m getting less and less patient.

Why? Because I realize that humanity has no excuses anymore. In the span of my own lifetime, both historical evidence and breakthroughs in knowledge have wiped out all our excuses. We know that we know how to end this needless suffering, and we have all the resources to do it. From sociology and anthropology to economics, from education and ecology to systems analysis - the evidence is in. We know what works.

“Soft” psychology as well as “hard” neuroscience also confirm that we humans come equipped with a moral compass - with deep needs and sensibilities that make us yearn to end the suffering. Yet we deny these feelings every single day at huge cost to our society and to our world.

No physical obstacle is stopping us. Nothing. The barrier is in our heads. We are creating this world gone mad, not because we’re compelled to by some deep flaws in our nature and not because Nature itself is stingy and unforgiving, but because of ideas we hold. Ideas?

Yes. This is one of the most startling discoveries - awakenings - of the last century: Human beings are in fact creatures of the mind. Our ideas about reality determine what we see, what we believe is possible, and therefore what we become. And we also now know that human beings can change our core, life-shaping ideas, even our ideas of democracy, of power, of fear, and - yes - of evil itself.

As we do, we no longer have to settle for grasping at straws - wild acts of protest, or tearful acts of charity, or any other short-term, feel-less-bad steps. We become open to the possibility of real change, And, when you think about it, how could we ever believe “the world” can change unless we experience ourselves changing?

So this little book is about learning to see the killer ideas that trap us and letting them go. It’s about people in all walks of life interrupting the spiral of despair and reversing it with new ideas, ingenious innovation?and courage. It’s about finding that mixture of anger and hope to energize us for this do-or-die effort. Why not go for it?"

Frances Moore Lappe
Cambridge, May 2007

PRAISE for Getting a Grip

“Original…out-of-the-box…. If this book isn’t inspirational, then I don’t know what is.” —Tikkun Magazine

“I love Getting a Grip…great positive energy that awakens us to a whole new way to think and to act. Read it now.” —Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Author, Failing the Faithful

“How did I feel after finishing the book? Exhilarated!” —Gloria Meleo Foster, Milwaukee

“A terrific book—clear and handy. The author accompanies the reader and the ideas are metabolizeable. It is smart and not intimidating.” —Kaethe Weingarten, author Common Shock, Harvard Medical School

“Getting a Grip is another example of Francis Moore Lappe’s steadfast attention on the strength of every day people and local communities, strengths that our mainstream media all too quickly ignores. Lappe has a knack for drawing out bright examples of hope, courage and positive action…. This book will remind you that your neighbors are good, strong, smart people, with whom you can work to build community and a stronger democracy. Read it for hope, revitalization and to remember your own power.” —Amazon Review

“Lappe is brilliant! …The book truly is an inspiration of our time and a call to action.” —Amazon Review

“Frances is an eco/political Rock Star, world changer, long-time celebrated author…. The message is timely, innovative and radical … hopeful but realistic…. A better world is possible, and Frances Moore Lappé is one of a handful of authors whose vision points the way.” —Amazon Review

Talking Points: Status in Iraq

QUICK IRAQ STATS:

US Troop Levels

· August 2007: 164,000

· January 2007: 137,000

Casualties

· Confirmed U.S. military deaths as of Sept. 4, 2007: 3,739

· Confirmed U.S. military wounded as of Sept. 4, 2007: 27,662

· U.S. civilians who are government contractors deaths as of June 30, 2007: 1,001

· Iraqi Civilian Deaths: more than 66,000, with estimates up to 655,000

· Iraqi deaths in August 2007: At least 1,975

· Assassinated Iraqi academics: 331

· Journalists killed on assignment: 112

Cost

· $12 billion/month, $10 billion/month on Iraq alone

· Total cost to U.S. government so far is more than $448 billion

· Projected cost of providing medical care and disability to vets of Iraq and Afghanistan: $350-$700 billion

Internal Refugees

· 2.2 million people, with an estimated 750,000 internally displaced since beginning of 2006

· The number of registered displaced families inside Iraq has doubled since January 1, 2007 from 447,337 to 1.1 million as of July 31, 2007.

Emigrants:

· Prewar: 500,000 Iraqis living abroad. August 28, 07, more than 2 million.

ASSOCIATED PRESS