Claudia

Villatoro
October 16, 2015

The Honorable Lois Wolk
State Capitol, Room 5114
Sacramento, CA 95814

Dear Senator Wolk,

I am writing to you as a concerned constituent to urge you to oppose the efforts
made by congress to weaken the school lunch and breakfast programs.

I am a 5th year college student attending the University of California, Davis, majoring
in Clinical Nutrition, and I am proud promoter of healthy food choices for a better
lifestyle especially for children. I helped build a better meal plan for my high school,
5 years ago, and it was a huge success and now I am alarmed that it might just all go
to waste, due to congress stand in this issue. I am concerned about the Bill S. 1146-
Healthy School Meals Flexibility Act that has been introduced that prohibits further
reduction to the sodium food content and renounces whole grain requirements.

School Nutrition Association has pushed congress to assist in the school lunch
program requirements and pass a bill that waives schools from meeting the
nutritional requirements. It is stated that in 2017 schools need to meet the sodium
requirements, but congress passed legislation to allow schools to ask for waivers
that allow them to op-out from the requirements until further notice that sodium
nutritionally impacts childrens health. This bill that has been introduced to the
senate can permanently change the requirements for sodium content on the school
lunch and breakfast program if it is passed. The bill also eases the U.S. Department
of Agriculture rules for schools, when it comes to serving whole grain products and
reducing sodium levels. The school requirements in 2012 were of all grains
served needed to be whole grain, now the new standards is that 100% of all grains
served must be whole grain. Schools have concerns with turnover on meals and
reimbursements; it is why schools are disputing for cushion in the requirements for
sodium and whole grain foods.

I am writing to you to ask you to help not pass this bill since the bills issue does not
heavily fall on the schools cost, but highly upon the consumers whom are the
students. Parents send their children to school and hope that the school enforces
healthy options to the students lunches. There has been an increased in childhood
obesity, as according to the Center for Diseased Control (CDC) childhood obesity
has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30
years. I am addressing to you the significance that school lunches play on childrens
health and the consequences it can lead to if there are no nutritionally essential
regulations. Furthermore, in 2012, more than one third of children and adolescents
were overweight or obese according to the CDC, and the 2010 Dietary Guidelines
for Americans recommend that every American make half or more of their grains,

whole grains. Even so, this urges the importance to abide to the requirements that
have been established because they are based on scientific science that limiting
these foods will lead to better health. Thus, it is important that schools restrict
sodium content as high sodium intake can lead to many adverse effects on the body,
and to meet the whole grains requirement as they have a potential to supplying the
children with essential mineral and nutrients.

I appreciate your help and hope to see that this bill does not pass and see the future
of the school lunch program progress to promote better food choices and better the
health of the young consuming them.

Thank you for your time and considering my request.




Sincerely,




Claudia Villatoro