Students at
El Segundo USD
need balanced
menus - now
Sign the Petition!
Join the coalition of parents, students, and community members in asking that El Segundo USD serve healthier, balanced meals to all their students by signing the petition below.
It's simple:
Our children deserve to be served the healthiest possible meals at school.
And we know that El Segundo USD can do better.
Our children are eating too many ultra-processed products, too much meat and eggs, and not enough fruits and vegetables. This kind of imbalanced diet contributes to 678,000 deaths in the US annually and causes 1 in 3 Americans to live with a preventable chronic illness.
And because food environment is the primary influence of food choice - especially in schools where the options are pre-decided for students, for up to 2 meals a day - El Segundo USD schools have a responsibility to create the healthiest possible menus for our children.
Nutrition science is clear. El Segundo USD menus can and must make these common sense changes.
That's why our coalition of concerned parents, students, and community members is asking El Segundo USD leadership to commit to reducing the amount of disease-promoting foods on their menus and replace them with the things we know make kids grow strong and healthy: fresh fruits and vegetables, lean plant proteins, and whole grains.
The leading causes of preventable disease, chronic illness, and premature death in the United States are all related to diet and poor nutrition—diseases like diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, and even some cancers.
Children born today have a shorter predicted life expectancy than their parents as a result of skyrocketing diet-related diseases. We must do better for our children—but the time to act is now.
Eliminate processed meats like hot dogs, pepperoni pizza, sausage and egg sandwiches, chicken nuggets and fish sticks
Reduce the amount of foods high in cholesterol, saturated fats, and sodium like meat, egg, dairy, and other processed products
Replace unhealthy menu items with foods rich in nutrients and high in fiber like fruits, vegetables, plant proteins, and whole grains
Diversify protein options to include plant sources by serving a warm, meatless entree at every meal
Los Angeles County is already suffering the consequences of imbalanced menus.
The problem: El Segundo USD menus don't reflect a balanced diet.
Less than 33% of children and less than 25% of adolescents in LA county eat the recommended servings of fruits and vegetables daily
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These dietary habits stick with our kids throughout life. Just 14.7% of LA county adults eat enough servings of fruits and vegetables daily
Over 25% of adults screened in LA County have high cholesterol and 24% have high blood pressure
Heart disease was the leading cause of both death and premature death every year for the last 10 years, causing 1 in 5 deaths
1
Too many ultra-processed foods made with disease-promoting refined grains, sugars, & processed meats
2
Too many products high in cholesterol, saturated fats, and sodium like meats, eggs, and full fat dairy
Too few health-promoting fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and legumes
3
Imbalanced menus make it harder for students to get the nutrients they need to learn, grow, and excel.
Independent public health organization Balanced reviewed the healthfulness of El Segundo USD menus and gave it an "F"—a failing grade, with huge consequences for our children's health. In their analysis, Balanced found that the El Segundo USD served:
SUPPORTERS
Meet some of the people behind this effort for El Segundo USD students' health.
Meisha Collins
Parent
I would love to see fresh whole food options at our schools. I am excited by all the new research showing reduction and reversal of most health problems just by eating more whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and plant proteins. I think these health benefits should be available to all students in our amazing district. As the coordinator for the nutrition curriculum at Center Street Elementary I think it’s time to put the healthy food students learn about in the classroom into the meals they eat in the cafeteria.
