Better School Food - What You Can Do

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The federal government issued a mandate, through the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004, that provides us all with the opportunity to establish standards for diet and health in our nation's public schools. The requirement calls for each federally funded school district to form a Wellness Committee and draft a district Wellness Policy that addresses the quality of meals served at school, the regularity of physical education, and instruction connected to diet and health. These school Wellness Policies went into effect at the beginning of the school year in 2006.

Don't know if your district has a wellness policy? Here are some steps to get you started:

Call your school district to determine the status of the Wellness Committee, and attend the next meeting.
Ensure that the committee includes parents, students, school food representatives, school board members, school administrators, and other community representatives - it's the law!
If there is a policy, read it carefully to ensure that it covers the above-mentioned criteria.
Consider conducting a survey for the students, faculty and parents in your district. Here's a sample survey (Word document: 36K) to get you started.
For more information on creating a model wellness policy, visit The Center for Ecoliteracy.
Here's an example (PDF: 33K) of a very comprehensive Wellness Policy.

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