Want To Improve School Lunches?  Make Your Voice Heard on January 4!

Parents and community members interested in improving our school lunches in Larchmont & Marmaroneck are invited to share their ideas at the first Open Community Meeting on School Food, to be held Wednesday, January 4 at 6:45 pm at Mamaroneck Avenue School.

The Food Service for the Mamaroneck Union Free School district is up for contract this year and interested parents are conducting a comprehensive review of the school lunch program. The contract decided in 2017 will set the guidelines for school lunches at all district schools for the next five years. The purpose of the Open Community Meeting is to look at how other schools throughout the nation are improving their lunches by offering more healthier foods, and to provide a forum for community discussion and input as the district shapes this new policy.

Amie Hamlin, Executive Director of the Coalition for Healthy School Food, will present ideas on how to create positive change in our school lunch program to make lunch options healthier and more wholesome. Following Hamlin's presentation, the floor will be opened to discuss what the community wants to see changed in our district's school food.

“All children in the district need to be offered much healthier food options, and the focus needs to be on more fresh fruit and vegetables in their diet, both cooked and raw, and supplying children with the colors of the rainbow on their plates,” said Hillary Short, Food Revolution Ambassador to Mamaroneck. “As we now know sugar harms our children. By moving away from foods that contain refined sugar or too much sodium we can help our kids be more vibrant, have less illnesses, fewer cavities and lower obesity rates. Feeding our kids healthy food needs to be a high priority in the district.”

“We only have the month of January to make our voices heard, before a new district food service contract is designed that will determine what our children are served in our district cafeterias for the next 5 years,” said Alli Margoshes, PTA Wellness VP at Mamaroneck Avenue School. "Healthy, wholesome foods result in good health, better academic performance, and fewer disciplinary problems. When schools get rid of junk food and offer healthy choices, along with food and nutrition education, they see big changes. This meeting isn’t limited to just elementary school parents and administrators – it’s open to anyone in the community, including Hommocks and MHS parents, who care about this incredibly important issue.”

The meeting will be held in the All Purpose Room at Mamaroneck Avenue School, located at 850 Mamaroneck Avenue. For more information, or to become more involved in shaping the new policy, contact Margoshes at maymargoshes@verizon.net. If you would like to contribute ideas, but cannot make the meeting, please email your ideas to mamkschoolsfoodcomments@gmail.com.

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