PILLAR 3: SPECIFIC STEPS FORWARD

1. Parents, Students and School Staff Should:

• Organize to ban soda, candy, junk food and fast food from school grounds.
• Create, or pressure your school district to create a healthy school lunch program, linked, if possible, to local or regional small–scale food producers.
• Organize school garden projects that engage children, teach about nutrition, and produce some food for their consumption. Promote the establishment of green schoolyards.
• Pressure school districts, along with local, state and federal governments to do the following:

2. School Districts and Local Governments Should:

• Follow and build upon the examples of New York City, Chicago, Nashville, San Francisco and others and ban soda, candy, junk food and fast food from all school grounds.
• Rethink the school lunch program and revamp it to prioritize nutrition, while, if possible, supporting local and regional small–scale food producers.
• Encourage the development of school gardens and green schoolyards.
• Adopt a wellness policy, based on the Childhood Obesity Prevention Agenda, which includes nutrition education and guidelines designed to promote student health and reduce childhood obesity.89

3. State Education Departments and Governments Should:

• Follow the examples of Texas, Maine, California and others by moving to ban soda, candy, junk food and fast food from all school grounds.
• Provide support for Farm to School initiatives that benefit small farmers, while providing fresh vegetables and healthy meals for children.
• Create mandatory statewide guidelines for healthy, nutritious lunches.
• Support school gardens and green school yard initiatives as a way to teach to educational standards.

4. The Federal Government:

• Congress should pass the “Prevention of Childhood Obesity Act”which would require schools that receive federal funds to ban junk food in vending machines, and would financially support schools that provide healthy lunches.
• Congress should pass the HeLP (Healthy Lifestyles and Prevention) America Act (SB 2558) which would require schools to formulate wellness policies, bring more fresh fruits and vegetables to schools, and restore the authority of the Secretary of Agriculture to regulate the sale of junk food in schools.90