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The Healthy Happy Meal Bill presented in NYC by Council Member Ben Kallos and drafted in partnership with parents’ groups, Center for Science in the Public Interest, and the American Heart Association is currently before the New York City Council. The bill would tie toys and other incentives that come with kids’ meals to minimum nutrition standards. It would not, however, ban toys sold with kids’ meals. Rather, it would merely put a stop to the practice of incentivizing unhealthy eating among children.
Join #FoodFri with @MomsRising, @BenKallos and @RobinVitale on Friday, February 6, 2015, at 1pm, EST, to learn more about the Healthy Happy Meal Bill and why it could have far-reaching effects for families and communities!
Feel free to invite a friend (or two!) by clicking below. Or, use the social media share buttons on the left-hand side to share on Facebook and elsewhere.
To join and follow the conversation on Twitter use the #FoodFri Hashtag in each tweet.
You can also follow the chat on Twubs.com/FoodFri. Twubs allows you to follow MomsRising’s registered hashtags by creating an account. Below I have noted the steps.
- Create an account using an email or your Twitter account.
- Enter the desired hashtag, #FoodFri, #WellnessWed or #EcoTipTue, in the search box found at the top of the page. Click Enter. A new page will open with the desired chat.
- Find the “Join This Twub” button found on the right-hand side bar and join the group.
- Adjust the speed of the conversation to your liking. Options are: Fast, Medium, Slow, Slower, or Slowest.
- Introduce yourself and join the conversation, by entering your comment, tips, or questions in the “Tweet to #FoodFri as [YourName] box”
- Or, respond to a specific tweet by hovering over the right-hand side of the individual’s tweet and selecting one of the icons.
More about our #FoodFri Featured Panelist(s):
Council Member Ben Kallos
Council Member Ben Kallos is a staunch supporter of a more healthy and equitable New York City food system. He has supported the Lunch 4 Learning campaign to bring free school lunches to all public school students, helped increase access to fresh and healthy food for his district, introduced the “Healthy Happy Meals” legislation to fight New York City’s childhood obesity epidemic, and promoted NYC Free Summer Meals program.
Council Member Kallos graduated from Bronx Science, SUNY Albany and SUNY Buffalo Law School. He has a background in law, working as a union-side labor attorney, as well as technology and government, and has served as a member of Community Board 8 and Statewide Committee Chair for the New York Democratic Lawyers Council. He and his wife reside on the East Side, where he has lived his entire life.
Follow Council Member Kallos on Twitter and Facebook.
Robin Vitale
Robin Vitale serves as the Senior Director of Government Relations for the American Heart Association in New York City, working with government leaders across the boroughs to implement evidence-based policy interventions aimed to improve the city’s heart health. In addition to this responsibility, she also oversees the policy strategy in the state capitols of Albany and Montpelier. Currently, her efforts are focused largely on the support of policies that address our nation’s leading causes of heart disease and stroke: tobacco control and obesity prevention.
Follow Robin on Twitter.
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