About

The Time for Lunch campaign is a project of Slow Food USA, a national network of people who believe everyone deserves food that is good for them, good for the people who grow it, and good for the planet. Join us, or use the form on the right to sign up for updates >>

About the Child Nutrition Act

The Child Nutrition Act is a federal law that comes up for reauthorization in Congress every five years. It governs the school meal programs, which feed more than 31 million children every school day.

Right now, Congress leaves school lunch programs with only $1 per meal to pay for food. Schools do their best to stretch that dollar, but it's simply not enough to provide kids with the food they need to stay healthy and to perform well in the classroom.

The original deadline for reauthorizing child nutrition programs was September 2009, but it was temporarily extended. Congress is now expected to address school lunch in early 2010. We have until then to show Congress that kids and parents are hungry for change.

Read our platform to learn about the actions Congress needs to take in order to give kids a healthy future. Our main policy goals are for Congress to invest in healthier food, strengthen nutrition standards and equip schools to buy directly from local farms.

You can also learn more about school food and the Child Nutrition Act on these web sites:

• Better School Food
• The Center for Ecoliteracy
• Chef Ann
• The Lunchbox
• The National Farm to School Network
• Slow Food In Schools
• School Lunch Talk