Urge Congress to Support Healthy School Fundraising

As you know, many schools rely on fundraising activities to supplement school budgets and pay for equipment, materials, supplies, and events. Two of the biggest school fundraisers are a la carte food sales in the cafeteria and vending. Unfortunately, many school fundraisers involve the sale of unhealthy foods. They don’t need to.

Schools have a wide range of non-food and healthy-food fundraising options to choose from, and experience shows that these options can raise as much or even more money than junk-food sales.

To reduce the amount of junk food and sugary drinks sold in schools, please take a moment to encourage your congressional representatives to cosponsor the bipartisan Child Nutrition Promotion and School Lunch Protection Act when it is reintroduced this year.

Thank you in advance for your help with this effort.

Sample Letter for Campaign

Subject: Please Cosponsor the Child Nutrition Promotion and School Lunch Protection Act

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

As your constituent, I urge you to cosponsor the bipartisan Child Nutrition Promotion and School Lunch Protection Act (S.771/H.R.1363). As you know, good nutrition is central to children's health and ability to learn.

The bill requires the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to bring its nutrition standards for foods sold out of vending machines, school stores, and a la carte in line with current nutrition science. Developed in the 1970s, those standards do not address important nutritional concerns like calories, saturated and trans fat, and salt.

Despite the increase in childhood obesity rates, many of our nation's schools still sell low-nutrition foods and sugary drinks to children through fundraising activities, such as vending, a la carte in the cafeteria, and candy bar sales. Yet, studies show that schools can make just as much money selling healthy foods, and many healthy and profitable fundraising alternatives are available, such as walk-a-thons, book fairs, gift wrap sales, auctions, cell phone recycling, and fruit or bottled water sales.

A recent study published by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, Sweet Deals, should reassure you that school fundraisers can be both healthful and profitable. I look forward to hearing whether you will cosponsor the Child Nutrition Promotion and School Lunch Protection Act.

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
February 14, 2007

Background Information

Why Do School Nutrition Standards Need to Be Updated?

While national nutrition standards for the school lunch and breakfast programs are updated periodically in accordance with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, nutrition standards for foods sold outside of school meals are not. Because these standards are over 30 years old, they are out of sync with current science and with current concerns about children’s diets and health. As a result, while children receive sound nutrition from federally-reimbursed school meals, foods such as sugary drinks, candy, and fried snack foods are readily available at school, undermining child health and wasting taxpayer dollars invested in the federal school meal programs.

USDA’s Current Nutrition Standards Result in Arbitrary Limits on the Sale of Foods in School Cafeterias
Allowed: Fruitades (with little juice), French fries, ice cream, candy bars, cookies, chips snack cakes, and doughnuts

Not Allowed: Seltzer water, caramel corn, popsicles (without fruit/fruit juice), jelly beans, chewing gum, lollipops, cotton candy, and breath mints.

USDA’s School Nutrition Standards Are Out of Date and Jeopardize Children’s Health

Over the past several decades, over-consumption of calories, saturated fat, trans fat, added sugars, and sodium have increasingly become problems in children’s diets. Those constituents are not addressed by USDA’s school nutrition standards. Excessive consumption of those constituents contributes to obesity, heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, and tooth decay.

Nutritionally Poor Foods Are Widely Available in Schools

Nationally, 83% of elementary schools, 97% of middle/junior high schools, and 99% of senior high schools sell foods and beverages out of vending machines, school stores, or a la carte in the cafeteria. The most common items sold include sugary drinks, sports drinks, imitation fruit juices, chips, candy, cookies, and snack cakes. The sale of foods outside of the meal programs can negatively affect children's diets, since many are high in calories, added sugars, and fat and low in nutrients.

Dispelling School Funding Myths

Across the country, schools are switching to selling healthier foods and are not losing revenue. According to USDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “students will buy and consume healthful foods and beverages – and schools can make money from selling healthful options.” Their survey of 17 schools and school districts found that, after improving school foods, 12 schools and districts increased revenue and four reported no change.*

School Nutrition Standards Should Support Parental Efforts to Feed Children a Healthy Diet

Parents entrust their children to schools during the school day, where children spend many of their waking hours and many children eat a substantial portion of their meals/snacks. Without their parents’ knowledge, some children spend their lunch money on low-nutrition foods from a la carte and vending machines, rather than on balanced school meals.

Updated Standards Would Ensure That Federal Dollars Spent on School Meal Programs Are Not Undermined and That Nutrition Goals Are Achieved

Since the Truman administration, foods sold and served through school meals have been regulated at the federal level. Congress and USDA set detailed requirements for the foods provided by the school meal programs. The federal government invests significant resources in the school meal programs ($9.4 billion in FY 2004 for school lunch and breakfast) and has strong nutrition standards for those meals. Selling low-nutrition foods in schools undermines that taxpayer investment.

The sale of nutrition-poor foods in schools ultimately contributes to costly treatment of obesity- and diet-related diseases such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, stroke, and osteoporosis (such diseases have their roots in childhood). Taxpayers bear much of the costs through the Medicaid and Medicare programs and federal employee health insurance. U.S. healthcare costs due to obesity are $94 billion a year, half of which ($47 billion) is paid through Medicare and Medicaid.

The legislation is supported by CSPI, the National Parent Teacher Association (PTA), the School Nutrition Association, the American Medical Association, and 330 other health and nutrition organizations.

*The one school that initially saw a decline in revenue later saw revenues rebound and surpass previous levels.

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