Take Action: Bake Sale Bill in Progress

If you are interested in seeing healthier food in schools, you may want to tell your legislators what you think about State Senate Bill (SB) 139, which has already passed the State Senate, and is being considered by the State House of Representatives Education Committee. To review the full text of the bill, as well as nonpartisan analyses, go to: http://www.legislature.mi.gov/(S(xhm3ewfvscliylg2po2f15xr))/mileg.aspx?page=getObject&objectName=2015-SB-0139

Contact your representatives in the State House of Representatives if you would like to weigh-in on this bill, which would allow for up to three bake sales per week that do not meet Federal Nutrition Guidelines for healthy snacks. We can be more creative with our fundraising, especially since healthy habits need to be reinforced throughout the school and home environments. There are so many other ways to raise money for our school programs besides selling junk food. One example is FarmRaiser – check it out here: http://www.farmraiser.com.

Here’s a little bit more background on this issue:

The federal Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (otherwise known as the Child Nutrition Reauthorization) included “Smart Snacks In School” nutrition standards for all foods and beverages sold in school during the school day, including through school fundraisers. These standards went into effect this school year (2014/2015).

To learn more about the Smart Snack standards, see these links: