Students at
Orange County
Public Schools
need balanced
menus - now
Sign the Petition!
Join the coalition of parents, students, and community members in asking that OCPS 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 Orange County Public Schools can do better.
The problem: OCPS menus don't reflect a balanced diet.
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 OCPS menus and gave it a "F"—a failing grade, with huge consequences for our children's health. In their analysis, Balanced found that the Orange County Public Schools served:
Our children are eating too much meat and eggs, too many over-processed products, 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 - OCPS schools have a responsibility to create the healthiest possible menus for our children.
Nutrition science is clear. OCPS menus can and must make these common sense changes.
That's why our coalition of concerned parents, students, and community members is asking OCPS 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.
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
Orange County is already suffering the consequences of imbalanced menus.
Only 14.7% of Florida teens consumed 3 or more servings of vegetables a day and 12% of Orange County teens report eating no vegetables at all in a 7-day period
Hospitalizations for diabetes—the 6th biggest cause of death in Florida— among adolescents rose 37% from 2011-2014
26% of Central Florida adults have highest risk cholesterol levels, and 30% have been diagnosed with high blood pressure
3 of the 4 most common cancers in Florida (breast, prostate, and colon) are linked to diet—and rates are on the rise
Too many products high in cholesterol, saturated fats, and sodium like meats, eggs, and full fat dairy products
1
Too many ultra-processed foods made with disease-promoting refined grains and processed meats
2
Too few health-promoting fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and legumes
3
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.
