Students at
Wake County Public Schools
need balanced
menus - now
Sign the Petition!
Join the coalition of parents, students, and community members in asking that WCPSS 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 Wake County Public School System can do better.
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 - WCPSS schools have a responsibility to create the healthiest possible menus for our children.
Nutrition science is clear. WCPSS menus can and must make these common sense changes.
That's why our coalition of concerned parents, students, and community members is asking WCPSS 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.
Less than 20% of Wake County adults eat the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables. 41% of adolescents don't eat even one serving of vegetables a day.
Cancer and diabetes (diet-related diseases) are among the leading causes of death in Wake County—and rates are on the rise.
35% of North Carolinians have high blood pressure, and it's estimated that by 2030, 2.5 million North Carolinians will have heart disease.
Diet-related diseases causes about 2,800 premature deaths every year in Wake County. That adds up to 42,861 years of potential life lost due to preventable disease every year.
Eliminate processed meats like hot dogs, pepperoni pizza, sausage and egg sandwiches, and ultra-processed foods like chicken nuggets and fish sticks
Reduce the amount of disease-promoting 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, diverse plant proteins, and whole grains
Wake County is already suffering the consequences of imbalanced menus.
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.
The problem: WCPSS menus don't reflect a balanced diet.
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
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 WCPSS menus and gave it a "D" grade—nearly a failing grade, with huge consequences for our children's health. In their analysis, Balanced found that the Wake County Public School System served:
