We believe that if we make school meals fresher it could encourage healthier eating and help students support local economy in Waco.

This is really important to us because we feel that we are not receiving fresh meals that would enhance our academic performance and healthy lifestyles. We also want to help support our local farmers in the Waco area and surrounding school districts. This is an issue because many of us have had bad experiences with highly processed foods that are stale and not fresh. As it states in an online article from Ecomythsalliance.org, “The problem, according to Eco-Schools USA, a National Wildlife Federation-run group, is that most of today’s 30 million daily cafeteria lunches are filled with poor quality, highly processed foods that contribute to childhood obesity, diabetes, and reduced attention spans.” This makes us very uncomfortable and not want to eat our school food. This results in our inability to be attentive in our school work and leaves us very hungry.

Our goal is to work with local farmers to obtain fresh foods as well as support our community. Elizabeth Soper, associate director of Eco-Schools USA , points out another interesting possibility: “Some schools have found that when they work with local farmers, they’re sometimes able to negotiate costs. If the farmer knows they have a set amount of produce they know will sell the school, they may be able to provide better prices.” We would like to get help in order to support by talking to the local farmers and our school districts.