New York State Coalition for Healthy School Lunches-Bellport.com

From left: Doug Mercer, who helped fund some special projects for healthier foods in the East Hampton schools, Joel Fuhrman, MD, author of “Disease-Proof Your Child: Feeding Kids Right” who had just presented to 8 health classes, Amie Hamlin, Executive Director of the New York Coalition for Healthy School Lunches, Heather Mills McCartney (wife of musician Paul McCartney), Ginny Reale, East Hampton Middle School Health Teacher, and kneeling in front of her, Barbara Tracey, East Hampton Middle School School Nurse, along with some of the 7^th and 8^th grade students who enjoyed learning about healthy eating.

New York Coalition For Healthy Lunches Website

Phone: 631-525-3650
Email: amie@healthylunches.org
Contact: Amie Hamlin, Executive Director

The New York Coalition for Healthy School Lunches (YCHSL) is a statewide nonprofit that works to improve the health and well-being of New York's students by advocating for healthy plant-based foods, comprehensive nutrition policy, and education to create food- and health-literate students.

Chevy Chase applauds 7 year old Andrew Ciacci, who had just spoken about why he wants healthy foods in his school, at our 2005 Fall Fundraiser – The Art of Healthy School Foods at the Peter Max art studio.

Last year we had our first annual fundraiser at the Peter Max art studio in Manhattan. It was attended by Jayni and Chevy Chase, Woody Harrelson, Billy Baldwin and Chynna Phillips, Hallie Kate Eisenberg, and a number of other celebrities. We had delicious food donated by some of the healthiest restaurants in Manhattan. The event sold out and we had to turn people away. We'll be holding what I am sure will be an equally exciting fundraiser this fall.

Food Service Manager, Dave Stroka, from Binghamton, prepared three healthy plant-based entrees that we presented at the New York State School Food Service Association Conference in 2004.

We also do presentations and attend conferences all over New York State. We give presentations to parents, students, school personnel, and others. Our Executive Director, Amie Hamlin, is a parent in the South Country Central School District and serves on the district's Wellness Committee that is working on creating a federally mandated wellness policy. If you are interested in improving school foods, please contact Amie.

We are passionate about what we do. Less than 2% of children are eating in line with the US Dietary Guidelines. As a percentage of calories, we get 51% of our calories from refined and processed foods, 42% from animal foods, 2% from white potato products, and that includes potato chips and French fries, and shockingly, only an embarrassing 5% from whole plant foods - the foods we know support good health and protect us from disease.

Click here to view a chart showing US Food Consumption by Calories.

Is it any wonder then, that 50% of children between the ages of 2 - 15 have fatty streaks in their arteries, literally, the beginning stages of heart disease? Or that 30 - 40% of children born in the year 2000 will develop Type 2 Diabetes in their lifetime (and the statistics are even worse for ethnic minorities - between 40 - 53% of African Americans and Hispanics will develop Type 2 Diabetes). This is a disease that was once called "adult-onset" diabetes and was only seen in adults. It is almost entirely preventable through proper nutrition and exercise! The rates of cancer are expected to increase by 50% by the year 2020, and children's exposure to carcinogens puts them at far greater risk than adults because of their rapid growth. Finally, 25% of children in New York State are either overweight or obese.

Please join us by signing up for our email list on the homepage of our website AND joining as a supporter of the coalition (which for the time being, is free). You can do both from our homepage at www.healthylunches.org.

Please get involved! We need your help. Contact us to find out how!