EXPEL JUNK FOOD FROM SCHOOLS!
Our children are suffering from an epidemic of
obesity and type 2 diabetes, but the laws governing the sale of food in
public schools are a junk food marketer's dream.
To get a sense of what's legal, see this amazing picture of a school store in Missouri. That's legal, but it's plain wrong.
The
federal definition of junk food is extremely narrow. It includes only sodas, water ices, chewing gum, and
candies made mostly of sugar. Still worse, the US Dept. of Agriculture
can only stop
the sale of these foods during meal times in cafeterias -- not
in vending machines elsewhere in schools, or in school stores like the one in the picture.
The Child Nutrition Promotion and School Lunch Protection Act is a good solution. It will broaden the definition of junk food, and empower the USDA
to stop the sale of junk food everywhere in school.
US Senator Tom Harkin and Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey need your help to find more co-sponsors for this bill.
So please, write to your Members of Congress today.
