BRIDGE's Johansson Urges Congress to Pass Healthy School Meals Act

Kids adore her in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. Parents love her in movies like The Other Boleyn Girl and Lost in Translation. And now, kids and parents alike are applauding A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE's Scarlett Johansson's recent request to Congress to add more fruits, vegetables, and healthy meal options to school lunchrooms.

Johansson has written a letter to Congress urging support for the Healthy School Meals Act of 2010, H.R. 4870, which was introduced on March 18 by Rep. Jared Polis of Colorado. The bill would reward school districts for offering plant-based vegetarian options and healthful nondairy beverages. Click here to read her plea. 

"I've been involved with efforts to feed hungry children for years," Johansson writes. "Millions of families in America rely on subsidized school lunches, and these meals are absolutely crucial to children's well-being."

The letter-covered by U.S. News & World Report and Politico-is part of PCRM's campaign to ask Congress to provide students low-fat plant-based meals through the reauthorization of the federal Child Nutrition Act, which helps shape the school breakfasts and lunches served to 30 million children.

The Healthy School Meals Act would reward school districts with additional food aid if they offer most students plant-based vegetarian food choices every day. The bill, which has already drawn support from Rep. John Conyers and 30 other co-sponsors, would create a pilot program to provide select schools with high-fiber, low-fat vegetarian protein products and nondairy milk options.

Vegetarian school lunch options are also supported by the American Medical Association, the American Public Health Association, and celebrity parents such as Tobey Maguire and basketball star John Salley.

Now playing through April 4, 2010, A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE is produced by Stuart Thompson and The Araca Group. Additional producers include Jeffrey Finn, Broadway Across America, Olympus Theatricals, Marisa Sechrest, The Weinstein Company, Jon B. Platt, Sonia Friedman/Robert G. Bartner, Swinsky/Deitch, Adam Zotovich/Ruth Hendel/Orin Wolf, and The Shubert Organization.

The creative team for A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE includes John Lee Beatty (Scenic Design), Jane Greenwood (Costume Design), Peter Kaczorowski (Lighting Design), and Scott Lehrer (Sound Design).

Tickets range from $61.50 - $131.50 and are available through Telecharge.com, by phone at 212-239-6200, or 800-432-7250, online at www.Telecharge.com General rush tickets are available beginning at 10:00AM Monday-Saturday and 12:00PM on Sunday on first come, first served basis at the Schoenfeld Theatre box office. Rush tickets are $26.50 and subject to availability. Mezzanine standing room only tickets are also available on the day of performance at the box office. For more information, visit www.AViewFromTheBridgeOnBroadway.com

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.