Send quick email or call re: vgn options at Los Angeles schools

[Guest guest]

FW: WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT for LAUSD VOTE TUESDAYHi everyone,

Please take a moment to email or call the LA School Board to ask them to

support the obesity prevention motion, which would offer a veg meal each day

and offer soy milk. The vote is tomorrow.

Thanks!

 

LAUSD, the 2nd largest school district in the nation, will vote on whether

or not to offer a vegetarian meal each day, at all 700 schools, and whether

or not to pilot soy milk. We need your help! Please send a letter of

support via e-mail or fax and/or call the school board members. The vote is

this Tuesday, October 28 at 5pm.

 

LAUSD Obesity Prevention Motion (segment of latest draft)

 

*Directs the Superintendent to provide at least one vegetarian option that

includes a vegetable or fruit component in addition to the salad bar as one

of the 11 options served daily in the cafeteria;

 

* Directs the Superintendent to undertake a pilot program offering a la

carte soy milk options at 5 schools;

 

School Board Members e-mail addresses:

 

€ jose.huizar (President)

€ marlene.canter (author of motion)

€ david.tokofsky

€ julie.korenstein (co-author of motion)

€ mike.lansing

€ marguerite.poindexterlamotte

€ jon.lauritzen

 

Call:

LAUSD School Board

333 S. Beaudry Ave., Los Angeles

213-241-6389 and 213-241-6180

 

For further school board contact info. visit www.lausd.net

For further policy info. visit www.nojunkfood.org and click on " policy "

 

Background Info...

 

We Say:

 

Provide at Least One Plant Based Vegetarian Option.

 

The American Academy of Pediatrics, the United States Department of

Agriculture, the National Institutes of Health, and the American Dietetic

Association all recommend a greater emphasis in the American diet on fruits,

vegetables, whole grains and legumes, with a reduction in the consumption of

animal foods. In California, schools continue to rely upon the Nutrition

Services Division's Food Distribution Program that delivers foods purchased

and donated by the USDA. The most popular USDA-donated foods sent to

processors are: beef, pork, chicken, and turkey. This invariably encourages

schools to cut costs by using the above foods, despite the USDA's

recommendation to " ensure financial decisions do not undermine nutrition

goals " . In light of this dilemma, the California legislature overwhelming

passed ACR 16, authored by CA Assemblyman Joe Nation, which requests that

the state departments of Education, Food and Agriculture and Health Services

develop nutritionally sound school lunch menu plans that would provide daily

optional plant-centered vegetarian school lunches. According to LAUSD's own

estimates, there are between 22,000 and 37,000 vegetarian students in the

district, many of which are lactose intolerant. Offering a plant-based meal

is easy to do. LAUSD's Nutritional Service's Division already has applicable

recipes approved by their own test kitchen and are already offered at

selected LAUSD school sites. These can easily be prepared in proportions

appropriate to demand since, unfortunately, meals are no longer prepared in

our school kitchens, making heating and serving in small increments a simple

task. A popular plant based item at Venice High School is our Veggie Chili

Potato Boat. Even SYSCO Foods, the country's largest food service

distributor, offers plant based meal distribution: www.MoonRoseVegetarian.co

<http://www.MoonRoseVegetarian.com/> m and other USDA approved recipes are

readily available from the USDA's website, the Detroit Unified School

District, and California's Project Healthy Beginnings.

 

We Say:

Offer Soymilk Wherever Dairy Milk is Sold.

 

Lactose intolerance is the inability to digest lactose, the primary sugar of

milk. 30 to 50 million Americans are lactose intolerant. Broken down into

ethnic groups, approximately 75% of African Americans, Hispanic Americans

and Native Americans, 90% of Asian Americans and 15% of Caucasian Americans

are lactose intolerant. Students who consume dairy, and are lactose

intolerant, can experience an upset stomach, bloating, nausea, gas, cramps,

and/or diarrhea. Some students choose not to consume dairy products due to

ethical reasons or other health concerns. Soymilk is an excellent source of

calcium. In fact, soymilk is fortified with the same amount of calcium as

found in dairy milk. In addition, according to the American Journal of

Clinical Nutrition, human studies have shown that the consumption of soy

protein is associated with a markedly lower urinary excretion of calcium

compared with the consumption of similar amounts of whey protein or a

mixture of animal proteins. And, unlike dairy milk, soymilk contains no

cholesterol or saturated fat. According to a representative of Dean Foods,

the largest distributor of dairy milk and soymilk in the United States,

dairy milk sales are flat, while soymilk sales are soaring. At Venice High

School, a LAUSD LEAF Pilot Site, soymilk sales surpassed dairy milk sales

within a few weeks of its introduction. Soymilk is affordable, has a shelf

life of over eighty days, and is available in plain, vanilla, and chocolate.

It can easily be ordered and stocked in quantities appropriate to demand.

 

 

THANKS AGAIN FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!!!!

Jacqueline Domac

www.nojunkfood.org

 

 

Soy Happy! http://www.soyhappy.org

P.O. Box 20495

Oakland, CA 94620

Tel: 510-508-4309