Dear Friend,

Welcome to this week's Good Food Force update! We're devoting this week's issue to protecting healthy school meals! Please find an update, and some useful resources you can use to get the word out, below!

1. The Hot Line

Pushback on healthy school meals continues!

It's been an action packed week on Capitol Hill for school foods. And, we need your continued help to reach out to members of Congress as the Ag spending bills move forward in the House and Senate. Please find suggestions on how to get involved, below!

This week the U.S. House of Representatives took up the Agriculture spending bill (HR 4800), which includes a rider to allow schools to opt out of all the nutrition standards for school lunch and breakfast (Section 739), a provision opposed by more than 200 organizations. Representative Farr filed an amendment to strike the waiver out of the bill.

The House debated the bill and a number of amendments, but stopped just as it got to Representative Farr's amendment. The House is expected to return to the Ag Approps bill the week of June 23rd (though things are a bit chaotic right now given the change in Republican leadership).

The Senate is planning to take up its Ag spending bill (S 2389) this week (as part of a package of spending bills also known as a minibus). The Senate bill includes a bipartisan compromise struck between Senators Harkin and Hoeven that directs USDA to further study and address sodium, whole grains, plate waste and participation to help schools meet the school nutrition standards.

We need to keep the pressure on, and let Congress know that moms support healthy school meals! Read on for easy ways to get involved.

Thanks to Margo Wootan, CSPI, for this great update! Also check out our latest blog in Fox Latino for more information!

Here's a quick rundown of small actions you can take, that have a big impact!

• Sign the MomsRising.org petition asking Congress to #SaveSchoolLunch. Over the past year, we have delivered tens of thousands of signatures in support of healthy schools foods. Those kinds of numbers make a big splash. Sign the petition here:http://action.momsrising.org/go/4592?ak_proof=1&t=4&akid=5558.2157671.B4Mn1q

• Get your friends on board. We trust our friends more than anyone else. It's one thing for us to email our members and ask them to sign a petition. It's another for you to do it. Consider tweeting in support, sharing an action on Facebook, or emailing 10 friends. You'd be suprised how many people take action simply because *you* asked them to. (We told you you're powerful!). Sample tweet: "As a mom of two young girls, I support healthy school foods! Join me to tell Congress to #SaveSchoolLunch:http://moms.ly/SaveSchoolLunch (Try to personalize this if you can!)

• Reach out to communities you work with. Many of the Good Food Force volunteers are active in school or community organizations, such as parent-teacher groups, parent listserves, etc. These communities are really well primed to take action around healthy foods for kids. Consider sending around an email, or bringing up a conversation, at the next meeting. You can use the Hot Line language above, or contact us for ideas! Karen@momsrising.org.  

2. Morning Stretch

#FoodFri Weekly Tweetchat:

MomsRising and CSPI invite you to a tweetchat on Friday June 20 at 1 PM EDT to discuss healthy school lunches and challenges to the National School Lunch Program’s updated nutrition standards. Join us to share your comments, resources or questions by adding the hashtag #FoodFri to your tweets at that time.

DATE: Friday June 20, 2014

TIME: 1- 2 PM ET

WHERE: On Twitter with hashtag #FoodFri

WHO: @MomsRising, @CSPI and YOU!

3. Salad Bar

The hot weather is here! Try making a cool and healthy summer treat like yogurt pops!

Mango Peace Pops!

Directions: Chop up 2 cups worth of fresh peaches, 1 cup chopped citrus (like oranges) OR pineapple, and 1/2 to 1 whole mango. You can use frozen fruit too. Toss all of the fruit in a blender and add 1 cup of organic plain or vanilla yogurt, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and 1/4 cup of organic honey or organic raw agave nectar. Blend until smooth, freeze and eat.

Source: 50 Homemade Organic Yogurt Popsicle Recipes & Yogurt Ice Pop Tips, on the Growing a Green Family blog.

4. Recess

Healthy Summer Craft: Container Gardening with Children!

There's nothing kids like more than getting dirty and eating yummy food (hopefully not at the same time). Here's a fun idea for keeping those little hands busy as the weather warms up and school lets out - make a container garden! This is a great way to help your child appreciate the importance of healthy food, get excited about planting his/her own garden, and... play with dirt, mud and maybe even worms! Can it get any better? Check out some tips and photos to get started on the MomsRising.org blog!

Infographic: Healthier School Meals Matter:

This useful image from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation does a great job illustrating the impact of healthier school meals. Please share widely!

That's it for now everyone! Thank you!!

- 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