Additive of the Week - Genetically Modified Soy and Corn

The following foods served at our school contain soy or corn or one of their main derivatives, e.g. high fructose corn syrup:

Entrees:
Chicken Nuggets (corn and soy)
Mozzarella Cheese Sticks (corn and soy)
Tomato/Spaghetti Sauce (corn and soy) (in many entrees - pasta dishes, meatball and chicken parm sandwiches, mozzarella sticks, pizzas made at the school, italian dunkers)
Pizza - frozen - various (soy)
Chicken in Chicken parm sandwiches (corn and soy)
Bagels (corn)
French Bread for Italian Dunkers (soy)
Club roll (meatball heros, etc.) (corn and soy)
Whole Wheat Bread- sandwiches, bread slice (corn and soy)
Sliders (soy) and their buns (corn and soy)
Turkey Taco Meat (soy)
Meatballs (soy)

Sides: (these all contain corn, corn syrup or HFCS)
Mixed Fruit Peaches
Pears
Applesauce
Corn

These are largely USDA commodity foods served in schools all over the U.S. The main exception is the bread.

On June 11th, we served Sliders, Peaches and Corn - putting either soy or corn in every single item we served. Another day, it was chicken nuggets, bread and applesauce - all with corn or soy or both.

Why do we want to avoid this kind of ubiquity of corn and soy?

In the movie The World According to Monsanto, they point out that90% of soy and 40% of corn grown in the US is genetically-modified (GM). They are also pervasive in processed foods.

Monsanto has genetically modified its seeds so that the corn and soy plants could be doused with RoundUp and survive. They tried to claim RoundUp was biodegradable - but regulators have since said this is not true and cannot be stated on the label. So, every day, our kids eat processed foods at lunch loaded with GM corn and soy treated with RoundUp. RoundUp has been shown to cause cell division - which you can take to mean it ultimately causes cancer.

Further, under US law, GM plants were declared to be substantially the same as non-GM plants and were never fully tested. In Europe, they are banned.

You can see the film online for the full story on Monsanto, GM crops and RoundUp.

Or read more online:
GEFoodAlert.org
GMWatch.org
WHO on GM Foods

Sara

Action Alert #3 - Child Nutrition Act Update

Here's more information on what could be a vote TODAY on the child nutrition act in the House. Phone numbers included so that you can call even if you're on vacation!

This update is from the NY Coalition for Healthy School Food:

Dear Child Advocates,

You may have heard that the Senate passed their Child Nutition Reauthorization (CNR) bill last Thursday by unanimous consent. This bill contains $4.5 billion for child nutrition over the next 10 years (this is just 6 cents per meal extra per day, and that is not enough!) We had hoped the Senate bill would pass before recess - and it did - and the momentum would build for the House to pass their version upon return in September with just two weeks before the bill is set to expire.

Unexpectedly, however, the Senate cut $2.2 billion from SNAP (Food Stamps) in order to pay for the child nutrition bill. We oppose funding cuts from SNAP to pay for the CNR.

SNAP, although not a school or child care based program, is important to achieving the goals for all children to have easy access to healthy food. We are disappointed to see this shift of resources from one vital nutrition program to another, and we have registered that disappointment with our Senators.

I urge you to share your opinion today, with Senator Gillibrand (202) 224-4451 and Senator Schumer 202-224-6542 (if you are from New York State). You can thank them for moving this bill, voice concerns about the funding level and source, and share any perspective you have. This is really the last opportunity you will have to have your Senators attention on this bill now that it's passed the chamber. I urge you to take this opportunity to weigh in about their decisions. For more information you can read Senator Gillibrand's press release.

More importantly, there is still time to influence House action on CNR and impact the funding and content of the bill. The House version of CNR invests $8 billion in child nutrition programs (instead of $4.5 billion) and has not targeted other nutrition programs to pay for it. PLEASE TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY to contact your Representative and ask that they fully fund and pass HR 5504, the Improving Nutrition For America's Children Act, when they return from recess in September (not today), and that they do so without cutting funds from other nutrition programs. Please call your Representative today and ask them to pass the House version with AT LEAST $8 billion in funding, without taking money from SNAP (Food Stamps). (Note that once you enter your zip code and address, you will be provided with a link to your Senators' and Respresentative's contact information.) Please also ask that they include the provisions of H.R. 4870 in the bill, to pilot plant-based commodity foods.

This message to the House is truly important. Our Representatives will return to DC today for an emergency vote, and there is concern that the less-well-liked Senate version of CNR will be passed in the House today. Again, the Senate bill makes only half the investment in child nutrition and cuts SNAP (Food Stamps) to do so. We want the stronger House bill to move forward.

Thank you again for your support for child nutrition. Let's hope we start the new year with at least an $8 billion bill and other vital nutrition programs intact!



Best wishes,

Amie Hamlin
Executive Director

You can call our Congressman Peter King directly at 202-225-7896.

Sara

Action Alert #2 - Child Nutrition Act Update

Call Congress Now! The Senate has actually passed their version of the Child Nutrition Act! Now the House may vote tomorrow on their version IF THEY HEAR FROM US. Here are the details and a link to make contacting our representative really easy from Slow Food USA:

After our huge campaign where 20,000 Slow Food supporters gathered for Eat-Ins all over the country, over 100,000 emails were sent and phone calls bombarded Congress, last Thursday the Senate passed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act - the reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act. This is the legislation that governs the quality of school lunches. Thanks to everyone for such a huge effort!

The version that passed in the Senate included a bunch of our priorities - more funding for healthier meals, regulations to kick junk food out of school vending machines, and $50 million for Farm to School programs, but it also makes cuts to food stamps in order to pay for them.

The next step is for the House to pass the bill, maybe when they return from break in September. Or maybe they will pass it tomorrow before they head out.

This is why we need your urgent help.

http://www.slowfoodusa.org/onestepcloser

The House bill, which is still being debated, has much of what we asked for but avoids making cuts to food stamps (SNAP) - a move which will impact the children that are the most vulnerable. School lunch should not be funded at the expense of other important food programs.

Contact your legislator now to make sure that we get the bill our children deserve.

http://www.slowfoodusa.org/onestepcloser

Thanks for all you do,

Jerusha Klemperer, Program Manager and the Time for Lunch team at Slow Food USA.

If you are concerned about the cuts in SNAP benefits in the Senate version, Feeding America sent this email with details on contacting our senators:

Yesterday, the Senate passed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (S. 3307). Unfortunately, the Senate made a last minute change to pay for the new investments in the bill by cutting the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP (formerly known as food stamps). There may be strong pressure for the House to pass the Senate child nutrition bill next Tuesday when the House returns to take a vote on a bill to provide emergency funding for Medicaid and teacher funding.

While we support completing Child Nutrition Reauthorization this year, the Senate-passed bill does not make as robust of an investment in program access that the House bill would make and it is paid for by cuts to SNAP benefits, nearly half of whom are children. This is not an acceptable child nutrition bill for the House to approve, and so we are urging the House to move its version when Congress returns in September.

Feeding America supports the stronger House version because it includes additional investments that help Americans struggling with hunger. We are now calling on all of our anti-hunger advocates to stand up and tell their Representative to pass the House version of Child Nutrition Reauthorization (H.R. 5504) when Congress returns in September. We need to show our leaders in Washington that our nation's children need a strong Child Nutrition bill that puts us on the path toward ending hunger! Help us deliver that message by taking action today!

Calling your Representative is easy, and your voice will make a difference. You can help us get a better Child Nutrition bill!

To make your call, just follow these simple steps:
- Dial the toll-free number---866-548-0332
- When prompted, enter your PIN---161920
- Listen to the instructions, and you will be patched through to your first Senator's office automatically.
- Inform your Senator's office that you are a constituent and deliver this message: "As my Representative I urge you to pass the House Child Nutrition bill (H.R. 5504) when Congress returns in September. It's critical that Congress enact a robust Child Nutrition bill that increases access to programs and improves nutrition without cutting SNAP/Food Stamps benefits."

It looks like we might actually get a school lunch bill passed!

Sara

Action Alert

We Need a Vote on Improving Food Safety

From the Center for Science in the Public Interest:

Food-safety advocates have been patient. You’ve sent emails, signed petitions, made phone calls and held events in your communities to bring attention to the broken condition of our national food-safety system. Yet, reform legislation that could help the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) move from reacting to foodborne illness outbreaks to preventing them remains on the U.S. Senate back-burner.

Time is running out. In order to get this important legislation enacted, President Obama must make it a priority. Tell President Obama we need him to send a message to the U. S. Senate that food safety legislation must be passed now!

In the first few months of his administration, President Obama told the nation that he intended to make improving the safety of our food supply a part of his legacy during his weekly address on March 14, 2009:

"We are a nation built on the strength of individual initiative. But there are certain things that we can't do on our own. There are certain things that only a government can do. And one of those things is ensuring that the foods we eat, and the medicines we take, are safe and don't cause us harm.”

Tell President Obama we need the FDA to be the “cop on the beat” protecting our families from contaminated food products.

Haven’t we all witnessed what happens when companies are allowed to operate without any or limited government oversight? The disastrous results of Wall Street dealings almost toppled our economy and one company drilling for oil off our coasts may have jeopardized the environment millions of Americans have called home for generations.

Send a message to the President: We want the U.S. Senate to vote on food safety now!

Thank you for taking a stand for safe food!

Sincerely,

David Plunkett
Senior Staff Attorney, Food Safety Program
Center for Science in the Public Interest

We Need New Legislation to Make Chemicals in Consumer Products Kid-Safe

The Environmental Working Group has a petition you can sign telling Congress we need new laws regulating toxic chemicals now routinely found in the bloodstream of our kids. There are a number of bills in Congress now that need action.

Tell Congress to close the "Halliburton Loophole" to protect drinking water from contamination

(From the Natural Resources Defense Council) The "Halliburton Loophole" exempts hydraulic fracturing, an oil and gas production method that has been linked to water contamination, from Safe Drinking Water Act regulations. Urge your senators and representative to co-sponsor legislation to repeal the Halliburton Loophole. Send a letter.

You can read more hear about 'fracking' and its impact on local farms and beef in particular on Mark Bittman's blog or more generally on the Huffington Post's website.

Here in New York, the state senate just voted to ban fracking and the assembly will take up the issue in the fall.

Sara

Weekend Reading, Fun -- and Apps

Reading

On Wednesday, Michelle Obama had an opinion piece in The Washington Post about the importance of passing the Child Nutrition Act. Read it and then call Congress.

If you're packing up for your family's vacation, you may want to read this sunscreen report from the Environmental Working Group on the best and worst sunscreens and how to avoid hormone-disrupting chemicals.

This article in Scientific American lays out the research and pending legislation around the links between chemicals in common household products with cancer and other illnesses.

Read about the recall by Kelloggs of a number of popular kids cereals because a chemical contaminant had leached from the packaging into the food making people sick. This report also details how little we know about how safe food packaging is -- yet another reason to avoid processed, packaged food where you can. In many schools, Kelloggs cereals are served for breakfast.

The cover story in this month's Consumer Reports is entitled "The 12 Most Dangerous Supplements" along with an article rating multivitamins. At newstands now or online with a subscription.

Fun

Plan an eco-friendly cook out. Subscribers to the WSJ can read the whole article here which suggests grass-fed beef for the grill, hot dogs from Applegate Farms, reusable or compostable tableware and where to get lump charcoal made just from wood without extra chemicals.

Apps (Does this count as 'Fun'?)

You can get an app for your iPhone from FoodNews.org that gives you a list of the conventional produce most likely to have high levels of pesticides. They also have a paper wallet-sized version if you prefer. Click here.

Sara

Additive of the Week - Fact Sheet on Fruits and Vegetables

We've compiled this fact sheet based on the labels of the fruits and vegetables served as sides in our school's cafeteria. The pesticide information is from www.FoodNews.org. The canned and frozen foods on this list are USDA commodity foods served in schools all over the country.

	Likelihood of Pesticides	Canned, Frozen or Fresh	Ingredients / Sugar or Salt Content
Chilled Mixed Fruit		canned	peaches, pears, grapes, corn syrup, sugar - 15g sugar
Chilled Cherries	high	canned	water packed
Chilled Blueberries	high	do not have
Chilled Peaches	high	canned	corn syrup, sugar - 16g sugar
Chilled Pears		canned	high fructose corn syrup - 14g sugar
Chilled Applesauce	high	canned	corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, erythorbic acid
Apricot Cup		frozen	'syrup' - 30g carbs
Strawberry Cup	high	frozen	'syrup' - 30g sugar
Fresh Banana		fresh	naturally occuring
Fresh Orange		fresh	naturally occuring
Fresh Apple	high	fresh	naturally occuring
Fresh Watermelon	low	fresh	naturally occuring
Fresh Cantalope Chunks	low	fresh	naturally occuring
Steamed Brown Rice		dry	naturally occuring
Chick Pea Salad		canned	salt, disodium EDTA - 380 mg
Tomato Sauce for Dipping		canned	corn syrup, salt -- 870 mg sodium in half a cup
Warm Carrots		canned	salt and calcium chloride - 370 mg sodium
Cucumber Slices		fresh	naturally occuring
Balsamic Roasted Carrots		canned	salt and calcium chloride - 370 mg sodium
Lemon Glazed Carrots		canned	salt and calcium chloride - 370 mg sodium
Baked Potato	high		naturally occuring
Mashed Sweet Potato	low	canned	low sodium?
Roasted Potatoes	high	canned	salt and calcium chloride - 420 mg sodium
Steamed Spinach		frozen	naturally occuring
Spinach w/ Garlic & Oil		frozen	naturally occuring
Tossed Salad		fresh	naturally occuring
Green Bean Salad		canned	salt - 380 mg
Warm Green Beans		canned	salt - 380 mg
Italian Style Green Beans		canned	salt - 380 mg
Black Beans & Brown Rice		canned	salt, ferrous gluconate - 430 mg sodium
Steamed Broccoli		frozen	naturally occuring
Steamed Zucchini		fresh	naturally occuring
Celery, Carrot & Pepper Sticks w/ Dressing	high	fresh
Black Bean Salad		canned	salt, ferrous gluconate - 430 mg sodium
Golden Corn Niblets	low	canned	added sugar and salt

Action Alert

Reauthorize the Child Nutrition Act

We need this bill brought to the floor for a vote before the Congressional recess starts Aug. 9th. Healthy Schools Campaign makes it easy to send a letter. Click here. The current legislation governing school lunches expires at the end of Sept. and school starts even before that. We can't afford to lose the momentum of this bill and the additional funds and nutritional standards it provides. Call Congress Today.

Ask that Chicken Sent to Schools at Least Meet Fast Food Standards

MoPIRG would like you to sign their petition to Michelle Obama asking that spent hens and chicken that would be rejected by KFC not be donated to schools as USDA commodities for lunch. Seems reasonable.

Stop Junk Food Marketing to Kids

From the Center for Science in the Public Interest:

Fruit Gushers, Kid Cuisine Pepperoni Double Stuffed Pizza, and Cookie Crisp Sprinkles cereal--that’s what companies consider to be healthy foods that are OK to market to kids. If you disagree, I hope you will take action today.

Last year, the Center for Science in the Public Interest worked with Senator Harkin to pass a law requiring an Interagency Working Group with representatives from the Federal Trade Commission, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to develop model nutrition standards for food marketing to children. While those standards were initially to be released in February, parents and public health experts are still waiting.

Please contact the agencies in the Interagency Working Group and the White House today and tell them that protecting children from junk-food marketing cannot wait! Urge them to release strong marketing standards this summer.

Thank you!

Margo Wootan, DSc.
Director, Nutrition Policy
Center for Science in the Public Interest

Sara