Vote for Vegan School Lunch Options

This just in from FARM (Farm Animal Rights Movement):

Out of more than 7,000 social reform proposals submitted to the Change.org website for presentation to the Obama Administration, our Vegan School Lunch proposal has gained 17th place! Only a couple thousand more votes are needed to place us within the top ten that will be presented!

Their proposal would "require USDA to facilitate healthful plant-based (vegan) school lunch options to promote public health, freedom from hunger, environmental quality, nonviolence, and kindness to animals."

This round of voting ends at 5pm ET on Thursday, January 15. To vote, here's what to do:

• Sign up with your name and e-mail address on the Change.org website.


• Visit FARM's vegan school lunch proposal, and click on the number to cast your vote.

Making Fiends in the Cafeteria

Sing along with Charlotte and the Veggies:

"Eat vegetables with every meal
Or your lips will start to peel
And your eyeballs will fall out
And your feet will smell like trout!"

Ann Cooper: Kickin' Butt and Takin' Names

Speaking of the school lunch program, blog follower A. Brown sent in this great clip of Ann Cooper, director of Nutrition Services for the Berkeley Unified School District and author of Lunch Lessons,at a 2007 conference:



Woo hoo! I love the passion and intensity she brings to this issue.

How could the cafeteria get any better?

The USDA wants to know!

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine recently sent out an alert asking concerned citizens to contact the USDA with our input on how the National School Lunch Program needs to change:

The Child Nutrition Act includes legislation for the National School Lunch Program, which provides federal assistance for school lunches. This act is being reauthorized in 2009, and the USDA would like your input on what needs to change. Submit your recommendations for improving vegetarian options by fax at 703-305-2879, or online. They are accepting comments until October 15, 2008.

PCRM has put together a list of recommendations that would make school lunches more veg-friendly and healthier for everyone, including offering nondairy milk alternatives, plant-based meal options, and more fresh fruits and vegetables.