School’s out for summer. But those of us working to reform unhealthful school lunches aren’t taking a break. Next week, director James Costa will be on Capitol Hill for a screening of the brilliant new documentary Lunch Hour: America’s School Lunch Program, and I’m looking forward to being part of the discussion after the screening. If you’re in the D.C. area, please join us.

Lunch Hour examines America’s National School Lunch Program which exposes 31 million children each school day to meaty, cheesy, high-calorie foods.

Reform is critical. About 12.5 million American children and adolescents are obese. One in three children born in 2000 will develop diabetes at some point in his or her life. At PCRM we’ve lobbied Congress for years to help schools bring in healthful options that can turn these statistics around.

In the documentary, school officials, politicians, doctors, celebrity chefs, authors, and others share what they’re doing to solve this problem. Here’s a clip:

In this clip, I demonstrate to Congress how simply replacing a high-fat school lunch hamburger with a veggie burger once a week can reduce a child’s saturated fat.

Here’s PCRM’s director of government affairs Elizabeth Kucinich discussing her experience working for healthier school lunches:

I hope you have a chance to see this important documentary. If you’re interested in learning more about the issue, visit PCRM’s HealthySchoolLunches.org.