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Send
a Letter of Support to Governor Schwarzenegger
on AB 826 - the Farm to School Bill
Thanks
to all your visits, letters, phone calls and speaking
up AB 826 passed out of both the Senate and the Assembly
with overwhelming bi-partisan support. Read the bill and
vote counts here.
Now we need to show Governor Schwarzenegger how much support
there is for farm to school and WE NEED YOUR HELP.
He needs to hear from farmers, parents, school nutrition
leaders and students. Tell him to sign AB 826 into law!
He's talking a lot about student nutrition and the problems
of childhood obesity - let him know that local farmers
should be part of the solution.
Fax
or Mail a letter today from your organization or from
yourself. We need everyone to speak up, especially parents
and people who work with schools.
Sample
Support Letter (download word version here)
Fax Letters to 916-445-4633
DATE
Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE:
Support for AB 826 (Nava)
Dear
Governor Schwarzenegger:
On
behalf of your organization's name
here I am writing to express our support for AB
826, the California Farm to School Child Nutrition Improvement
Act. We hope that you will support this innovative approach
to improving school nutrition and supporting California's
farmers.
We/I
support farm to school because …
choose one or more of the following points:
- Farm school programs are a win-win for schools and
farmers alike. They put the freshest and healthiest
fruits and vegetables in our kids school meals, and
create a stable market for farmers that are struggling
to find markets where they can get a fair price.
- When schools purchase fruits and vegetables directly
from local farms not only do students benefit, but so
do farm families, their communities and the local economy.
- Connecting with farms allows schools to serve more,
tastier fresh fruits and vegetables and creates opportunities
for hands on nutrition education, such as farm and farmers'
market tours, gardening and composting programs and
taste testing and cooking demonstrations.
- Name your own reason
Highlight one or more of the following points:
- AB 826 complements other nutrition bills that
you are supporting that get the bad food out of
schools (SB 12 and SB 965) and gives them money
to purchase fruits and vegetables (SB 281). AB 826
creates opportunities for school food dollars to
be spent on fruits and vegetables from local farmers.
These bills can work together to create a healthful
school food environment for California's children.
- Farm to School programs offer kids fresh, ripe,
seasonal fruits and vegetables that are bursting
with flavor so they learn to like fresh foods at
a time when they are developing life-long eating
habits. Share an experience
from your community
- AB 826 provides new opportunities by implementing
the Department of Defense (DoD) Farm to School program,
which allows schools to purchase local and California
grown produce through existing channels.
Our hope is that the lessons learned from the farm to school
program can be translated to other institutions, such as
universities, hospitals, and correctional facilities, all
of which purchase through the DoD, in order to increase
demand for California produce within the state, and income
for our farmers.
Please
sign AB 826 into law and support California's farmers
feeding California's children.
Sincerely,
Your
Name and Signature
cc:
Assembly Member Pedro Nava, 916-319-2135
California Food and Justice Coalition, 310-822-1440
Please
send a copy to CFJC so we track our support. Fax to 310-822-1440
or email to Heather@foodsecurity.org.
Get
background on the bill and other farm to school policy
resources here
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