Act Now for Universally Free, Fresh Meals and SB 499!

Published on May 17, 2019 in Child Nutrition, School-Aged Children

Join us in asking for support of SB 499 (McGuire) and funding for CA-Grown for Healthy Kids. Budget Leaders are meeting now to decide the State Budget, and SB 499 is up for a vote on the Senate Floor. This should take just a few minutes.

Prioritize outreach to Assemblymember Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento), Chair of Assembly Subcommittee 2 on Education Finance, and Assemblymember Phil Ting (D-San Francisco). These two Chairs will recommend whether to include program funding in the state budget. The Senate has already approved full, ongoing funding — we need the Assembly to do the same!

Please also spend a minute contacting your Assemblymember if they are listed below as members of the Subcommittee on Education Finance:

Email or call sample script:

Hello. My name is ________. I live in ________, CA. I am calling to ask Assemblymember ________ to support full funding for the “California Grown for Healthy Kids Program”, which would create healthy, hunger-free schools through an equitable, non-competitive breakfast reimbursement to purchase fresh, California-grown fruits and vegetables for school districts serving universally free school breakfast in all schools. [choose one or more of the following reasons or tell them your own]

    • Research clearly demonstrates that school breakfast significantly improves academic performance and physical and emotional health, in support of districts’ LCAP goals.
    • Hunger-free schools, where meals are served free to all students, eliminate stigma.
    • Access to fresh fruits and vegetables in school is important to students and parents.

 

Next, e-mail or call your Senator in support of SB 499:

Find Your Senator: link
Find Your Senator’s Contact Information: link

Email or call sample script:

Hello. My name is ________. I live in ________, CA. I am calling to ask Senator
________
to support SB 499 – California Grown for Healthy Kids, which would make it easier for all schools to provide universally free meals through Community Eligibility, and sustain healthy, hunger-free schools through an extra breakfast reimbursement to purchase fresh California-grown fruits and vegetables. To earn this non-competitive incentive, school districts must serve breakfast universally free in all schools and serve breakfast and lunch universally free at very high poverty schools. [choose one or more of the following reasons or tell them your own]

    • A substantial body of research clearly demonstrates that school breakfast significantly improves academic performance and physical and emotional health.
    • Hunger-free schools, where meals are served free to all students, eliminate stigma.
    • Access to fresh fruits and vegetables in school is important to students and parents.

 

 

Don’t forget to share your support on social media! Retweet CFPA’s post, or write and share your own.

Questions? Contact Elyse Homel Vitale at 510.433.1122 ext 206, or visit https://nourishca.org/sb499/.

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