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Celebrities and Public Unite to Support Real School Food

  • 09/26/16

BOULDER, Colo., — PRNewswire — Today, Chef Ann Foundation (CAF), a leader in the fight for school food reform, announces the launch of their October #RealSchoolFood awareness campaign, calling on celebrities, chefs, good food advocates and parents nationwide to bring attention to one key issue: our children deserve and desperately need REAL, unprocessed, healthy school food every day.

Why? Because childhood obesity and diet-related disease are crippling their futures. In America, one out of every three kids is overweight or obese, and at-risk for Type 2 Diabetes. This generation of children is predicted to have shorter life expectancies than their parents, primarily due to their diets. To make matters worse, over 30 million kids eat school lunch daily and much of that food is highly processed, heat-and-serve meals that reinforce the bad eating habits contributing to this health crisis.

"Strong school lunch regulations are a good place to start, but they can only take us so far," says Chef Ann Cooper, Founder and President of the organization. "Big food companies are engineering processed products to meet federal guidelines, but a chicken nugget with whole-wheat breading and 20 other mystery ingredients does little to instill healthy eating habits. We need to be cooking from scratch with recipes based on fresh, whole ingredients. That way we ensure that kids receive the nourishment they need today and a taste for real food that leads to a lifetime of healthy eating."

Chef Ann is not the only one who thinks scratch cooking in schools is a crucial part of the solution. Fueled by families, educators, school food staff, and celebrities, last year's campaign reached over 23 million people with the real school food message.

And as Congress stalls on deciding the fate of federally regulated school lunch, CAF has reignited the social media campaign to give the American people a platform to voice their opinion. If you believe in the real school food movement, join the campaign today:

1. Photograph yourself or your kids holding a "#realschoolfood" sign.
2. Post the photo to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (privacy settings set to public) with this caption: 30 million kids eat school lunch every day. It's time we served them #realschoolfood. Join the campaign now: realschoolfood.org (Or, visit the campaign page for other suggestions).

For every person who posts using "#realschoolfood" in October, $1 will be donated towards healthy school food programming for kids across the country. This is an incredible opportunity for Americans to make school food reform a reality, thanks to the generosity of campaign sponsors Made in Nature, Mamma Chia, Guckenheimer, Elevation Reps of the Rockies and Quinn Snacks.

A strong advocate of real food and real flavor, Made in Nature CEO Doug Brent knew his company needed to get involved. "We have to shed light on this issue and get back to the food that really nourishes us and our kids. This grassroots campaign can create awareness and change," Brent comments.  

It's time to stand up for the health of our nation's children. Will you join us?

About the Chef Ann Foundation
Founded in 2009 by Ann Cooper, a pioneer in the fields of school food reform and child nutrition, Chef Ann Foundation is a national non-profit that provides school communities with tools, training, resources and funding to create healthier food and redefine lunchroom environments. To date, they've reached over 7,000 schools and 2.6 million children in all 50 states. To learn more about their healthy school food programming, visit www.chefannfoundation.org.

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