Winter Fun (photo by Phaedra Wilkinson, courtesy of morgueFile.com)

Good news recently for those who want more sustainability when it comes to food and water. For the first time a judge has ordered the destruction of illegally planted genetically modified crops and the N.Y.S. legislature just passed a moratorium on “fracking” for natural gas.

On the heels of those victories, the U.S. Congress has passed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. Our friend Kate Walsh at Slow Food USA writes, “Over 31 million children in American schools will have a chance of a better school lunch.”

The act’s passage comes at a critical time. For the first time, a generation of American kids is expected to have a shorter life span than their parents.

A Broken System

"Cheetos with cheese does not have a place in a school lunch program," said Josh Viertel, President of Slow Food USA. "It is about time we gave children the school lunch they deserve."

"We know that our food system is broken when the food we feed our children will cause one in three to develop diabetes, and when obesity levels are at an all-time high. This Bill is far from perfect, and has involved large compromises, but is a great achievement towards our end goal of making kids healthier," he continued.

Slow Food USA members have been campaigning for the past two years with over 160,000 Slow Food members joining the ‘Time for Lunch’ Campaign. Thousands signed petitions, emailed or called legislators or attended one of over 300 ‘Eat Ins’ that were held in all 50 states.

"The bill will also help support local family farmers who supply the produce for school lunch through Farm to School programs."

Our Most Valuable Resource

After sending her child to school and seeing the quality of the food schools are forced to serve, Slow Food member and child nutrition advocate for the past 16 years, Dr. Susan Rubin decided to take action.

"What a people don’t realize is that there are a lot of children who rely on school lunch as their main meal of the day. The health of our children is one of the most important investments we can make," she said.

Imperfect progress, but progress nonetheless, and it came because concerned citizens made their voices heard so loudly that they couldn’t be ignored.

To learn more about the Slow Food movement and find a local chapter, go to: Slow Food USA

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