Montclair school district is providing unsatisfactory school meals which include fast food style menus with processed foods that contain artificial additives and preservatives. Our kids are paying for this with their health. Lifestyle and diet related health problems are on the rise in children. At least 30 percent of children in the US are overweight, childhood obesity has more than doubled, and it is predicted that one in three will develop diabetes before adulthood. For many of our students, school lunch is their only complete meal of the day. We need to make sure it is a healthy and nourishing meal. We need a change in philosophy not a change in costs. In fact, if our meals meet the new nutritional standards (which they currently do not) the district will be reimbursed an extra $0.06 per meal. One of the single most impactful and sustainable ways to make immediate changes to school lunches is to implement healthy salad bars with fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and healthy proteins.  Fresh fruits and vegetables at a salad bar can replace the typical school lunch vegetable - "baked" fries or tater tots. Two schools have won grants from Whole Foods for Salad Bar hardware, but these are not being fully utilized. Full salad bars and nourishing, tasty soups should be made available to all schools in the district. If highly processed food, chocolate milk, hot dogs, chicken nuggets and canned fruit are not your idea of a healthy lunch, get involved and help make school lunches healthier. Let's give our kids the right food to fuel their academic performance and teach them how to make healthy lifestyle choices. Show your support for better meals service by our school district by signing below. We'll be in touch soon with more ways to help.