EQUITY ISSUES
Problems:
Racial Bias in US Dietary Guidelines
Selling food and beverages that some children can not afford and harms their health:
 At bake sales- Snack lines in the cafeteria
- Candy bar or cookie dough sales for fundraisers
- Vending machines
Requiring that milk be offered at school lunch and breakfasts when the majority of people of color can not digest it.
This is called lactose intolerance, and it is a normal condition. The ability to digest dairy products is known as lactase persistence, and this is a genetic mutation.
Meat and cheese based entrees that:
- Contribute to the cholesterol and saturated fat burden
- Increases exposure to hormone and pesticide residues found in meat and dairy
- Contribute more to global warming than all transportation combined
- Disproportionately affect persons of color by causing heart disease, diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure, strokes
Lack of whole plant-based foods that are good quality and delicious, that support good health and prevent diet diseases that disproportionately affect people of color
Exposure to genetically modified foods
Lack of adequate funding to properly feed children
Disposable trays and utensils
Solutions:
All children have access to meals and snacks during the day that support good health without cost to them
Farm to School (Local foods, organic when possible)
School Garden
No fundraising that depends on purchases by children or their families
Plant based entrees, fresh vegetable and fruits, whole grains, calcium-enriched non-dairy alternative
Reusable plates, utensils, trays (provides jobs also)
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All children should have access to quality snacks, namely, fruits and vegetables
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