Source: Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC, June 21, 2010: The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) is seeking your organization’s partnership for a coalition letter to the U.S. Congress to support House Resolution 4870 – The Healthy School Meals Act of 2010 (H.R. 4870).
H.R. 4870 aims to improve children’s eating patterns by encouraging the inclusion of healthful plant-based options in the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs. This legislation will introduce plant-based foods to schools, increase the availability and affordability of these foods, and provide incentives for schools to provide daily plant-based options. From a faith perspective, this bill would provide children from our community, who may be vegetarian, more meal options in their respective schools.
Problems with weight and health have become epidemics in the United States. Some groups are especially at risk. For the South Asian community, most of whom are Hindu, a predisposition to insulin resistance, adoption of a western diet compounded by increasingly sedentary lifestyles have lead to weight gain, higher prevalence of diabetes, and coronary heart disease. Moreover, for many children, lactose intolerance is also an issue, pointing to the need for lactose-free beverages.
Signing on will simply inform our elected representatives that we in the Hindu American community collectively care about the issue of healthy, vegetarian meals for our nation’s school children.
The deadline to sign-on to the Coaltion Letter is July 6, 2010, 5:00 pm EST. If you are interested in signing on, please contact Suhag Shukla at suhag@hafsite.org with the formal name of your organization.