The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is one of the strongest tools our country has in combating hunger and poverty. 3.8 million children in this country currently live in households experiencing food insecurity. 46 million people—including children, the elderly, and people with disabilities—rely on SNAP to feed themselves each day.

Yet some in Congress are proposing a budget that GUTS SNAP. Cutting funding or changing the structure of SNAP puts the neediest people in our country at serious risk. We need YOUR help in making our voices loud and clear. Write your members of Congress today and tell them “hands off SNAP!” 

Quick Links

• USDA: Federal efforts to make schools nutritious are working. American Heart Association Blog. Ongoing federal efforts to make school meals more nutritious and widely available to low-income students are working and should be left alone, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. 
• Working With Your School Nutrition Director. FRAC webinar on Thursday 4/16 at 1pm ET. Learn how to develop a strong partnership with your school nutrition department and work with them to support learning and improve student health and wellness.
• Coke's PR Strategy Is to Market Soda as a Healthy Snack. Candace Choi, AP. Coca-Cola paid nutrition experts to suggest small sodas or mini-cans of Coke as a "healthy treat" for American Heart Month. Source: BMSG
• Junk food marketing to kids: four facts that will blow your mind. Karen Showalter, MomsRising.org blog. 

• #FoodFri Tweetchat: Food Science and Healthy Foods. Fri 3/20 at 1pm ET. Science helps us understand how food is made, preserved and consumed. What role should corporations play in dispensing dietary information? Should companies offer information about obesity, diabetes or heart disease? Join @MomsRising and the Union of Concerned Scientists (@UCSUSA) to discuss on Twitter. 
• #FoodFri Tweetchat: Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Fri 3/27 at 1pm ET. 
• Google+ Live Event: A Conversation on Faith, Food and Building Healthy Communities. Tues 3/24 at 11:30am ET. Join MomsRising.org and ICCR to discuss what moms and faith communities can do to promote nutrition and fight childhood obesity. We'll also discuss the latest efforts to demand companies curb junk food marketing to kids. This will be a free Google+ Live Event. Find out more.
• On the Good Food Force Facebook Group: Should we use marketing tactics to promote healthy foods to kids? Is it "fighting fire with fire", or does it validate deceptive practices we should be teaching our kids to avoid? Check out the great debate between Casey Hinds and Bettina Siegel, and share your thoughts on the Good Food Force Facebook group!

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Anita is a Good Food Force member and California mom of two girls. She recently used her mom powers to speak out about a planned school trip to a fast food restaurant. Working with other moms, she met with the principal and PTA president to suggest promoting healthy foods instead, for example a trip to a local farmer’s market. “The meeting went really well! Everyone was really receptive and reasonable. I shared a ton of resources I learned about because of the GFF: data from Yale Rudd Center, CSPI, The Lunch Tray blog (Bettina Siegel), US Healthy Kids blog (Casey Hinds), Edible Schoolyard and more.” Go Anita! 

Thank you for all you do!

- Karen, Migdalia, Monifa, Donna, Dream and the rest of the MomsRising.org Food Team!

Good Food Force (GFF) Volunteers are real-life superheroes who take action in their schools and communities, and/or on their blogs and online networks, to get the word out about healthy school foods, junk food marketing to kids, and strategies that are working to reduce childhood obesity. Together with MomsRising.org staff, they help advocate for healthier kids and families. Help spread the word! Contact us: karen@momsrising.org