Generated At 2010-09-30 08:15:00

Title: test tme abstract
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Abstract:
(CNN) -- Dana Woldow issues a challenge to every member of Congress: "Try school cafeteria food in your district. Then see if you continue to make the same decisions about how you fund the program."

This San Francisco, California, mother of three is mad. As the co-chair of the student nutrition and physical activity committee for the San Francisco Public School District, she has personally led the charge to improve school meals.

"I got involved completely by accident," Woldow said. "The principal of our middle school wanted to get the soda and junk and chips out of our school cafeteria and needed a parent to help. It really wasn't an issue for me because I packed [my children's] lunch, but when I saw what was being served, I felt relieved they never asked me for money to buy it and I felt sorry for the kids who did or who had no other choice but to eat what was being served."

She got involved in 2002. She said she feels her committee's volunteer efforts have made the district's meals much healthier, but she said they still have more to do. She thinks the federal government is setting the program up for failure.

Congress is about to increase the amount of money it gives to the National School Lunch Program. The Obama administration asked for more than $10 billion to improve the program over 10 years. The current bill cuts that money in half. If the bill passes, districts will get about a 6-cent increase per child. Currently, schools in high-expense cities such as San Francisco get $2.74 a meal per child. "When's the last time you could get a lunch for that price?" Woldow asked. "What we need is really about $5 a child to feed them healthy food."