My 4 ½-year-old son recently started preschool. He was so proud to go off with his lunchbox filled with goodies like beans and rice, cherry tomatoes, a nectarine and a couple of dried dates for a sweet treat. He helped to prepare his lunch and was especially excited that the tomatoes were ones he had picked in a friend’s garden.

On the second day of school, he was equally happy about taking his lunch. But when he came home, his first question was why he didn’t get School Lunch like some of the other kids in his class. I sighed. The truth is that I had looked carefully at the School Lunch program and was horrified by what I saw. Low fiber, high sodium, high saturated fat foods like hot dogs on white buns dominated the menu. Not much there to warm a mother’s heart. Or to give my son the energy he needs to get through his busy school days.

Thank goodness, on Labor Day, more than 20,000 people gathered for potluck picnics around tables in parks and farms and school grounds to tell Congress to fix the School Lunch Program. The initiative was organized by Slow Food USA. Their “Time for Lunch Policy Platform” suggests that the government make some crucial changes to the National School Lunch Program, which is governed by the Child Nutrition Act.

The reform calls for $1 more per child, per day to help pay for more fruits, vegetables and whole grains. It also will fund grants for educational initiatives such as school garden projects that encourage healthy eating habits, and the establishment of higher nutritional standards in schools, including the removal of fast food and unhealthy vending machine items.

Slow Food USA also recommends that funds be allocated to the upgrading of school kitchens and that underemployed Americans be trained as the cooks and administrators our school cafeterias. Because so many school kitchens are poorly equipped, schools outsource to food manufacturers who make chicken into chicken nuggets or fruit into sweetened sorbet.

Senator Blanche Lincoln, the new chair of the Senate Ag Committee, has just introduced a new child nutrition bill. It is called the Healthy Food for Healthy Schools Act of 2009. It’s focused on ensuring that foods served in school meals include “the widest variety of healthful foods that reflect the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans.”

Hopefully, this legislation will help a little. Right now, the USDA spends just a small percentage of its budget on fresh fruits and vegetables and most of its budget on meat and dairy products. The bill means cafeterias will probably get more access to fresh produce through the USDA.

The legislation does not address all of the School Lunch issues but it does move us in the right direction.

In the meantime, I am talking to my preschooler even more about local food, whole foods and foods that help him to feel healthy. And for the moment, he is able to see my point!