Earth Day Network Blog Updates

Earlier this morning, Earth Day Network and several of its D.C. metro-area partners were honored for their work promoting the health and well-being of children and school nutrition in the District. Specifically, D.C. Councilmember Mary Cheh hosted Earth Day Network staff and others for their success in achieving record growth and participation in the District's School Breakfast Program.

Yup, you heard right… The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is overhauling its nutritional guidelines for school meals and serving up some new healthier guidelines. First Lady Michelle Obama, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, and celebrity chef Rachel Ray recently announced the new guidelines during a visit at Parklawn Elementary School in Alexandra, Virginia.

Does your child ever walk or bike to school? Tens of thousands of students, and many adult counterparts, take such a journey on a daily basis. Yet the safety of these efforts – basic staples for any neighborhood like functional crosswalks, stop signs, or sidewalks, etc. – is now in jeopardy due to another inane proposal from Congress. Specifically, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is scheduled to vote on Thursday, February 2nd on a bill to eliminate ALL funds for Safe Routes to School.

There's some exciting news in the world of sustainability education! Today, the U.S. Department of Energy announced the new site and schools for the 2013 Solar Decathlon. The Solar Decathlon is one of the premier educational and energy events in the world. Colleges and universities are tasked with creating the most aesthetically pleasing, affordable and energy efficient house, which they then have to ship and construct at the competition site.

That’s right. We’re starting off 2012 right with increased nutrition standards in our nation’s schools!!! On Wednesday, January 25, First Lady Michelle Obama along with the Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will announce new nutrition standards for America’s school meals. We couldn’t be more thrilled about this win for healthy schools!!

If you are a regular reader of our blog, you will surely know all about The DC Healthy Schools Act. For you newbies out there, the DC healthy Schools Act was a landmark piece of legislation –passed unanimously in May of 2010 - that cemented the District as a national leader in raising health and wellness standards in public schools.

As 2011 comes to a close and we welcome in the New Year, advocates for healthier food and nutrition for our nation’s youth have something to cheer about: the one year anniversary of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. The main goal of this Act is to make improvements to the child nutrition programs that serve millions of children across our country each day, and to improve access to nutrition assistance to make it easier for children to get nutritious meals when they are away from home.

In what is perhaps the biggest demonstration of support yet for the green schools movement, over two-thirds of the nation’s states formally signed up to participate in the U.S. Department of Education’s Green Ribbon Schools program.

The American Frozen Food Institute stole them.

For years, people inside and outside of the environmental education movement have been asking a series of similar questions. For example, what does environmental education look like in the 21st century? What does it mean for my classroom or my community? Or, how do we adequately assess environmental literacy?