Two Angry Moms

About the Project

Amy Kalafa was stewing for years, packing her kids lunches from home and trying to get her community to pay attention to what kids are eating in school. When news of a national child health crisis began making headlines, Amy, an award-winning documentary filmmaker, decided to take the fight to film. Two Angry Moms is Amy's quest to learn what she and other parents need to know and do to get better food in their kids' schools.

Susan Rubin had been trying for a decade to work with her district on improving school food, earning herself a reputation as a rabble-rouser with a "macrobiotic agenda" (NOT!). She's even been banned from her children's' school cafeteria! In the meantime, legions of kids continue to make a daily lunch out of neon green slushies, greasy fries and supersize cookies, imperiling not only their long-term health but also their ability to learn. Exasperated, Susan decided to reach beyond her school district, and founded Better School Food, her own grassroots organization.

Part exposé, part "how-to", Amy chronicles the efforts of Susan and other leaders in the fledgling better school food movement as they take on the system nationwide. From Chefs Alice Waters and Ann Cooper reinventing school food in Berkley California to Chef Tony Geraci's student designed meals in New Hampshire, Amy discovers programs that connect the cafeteria with the classroom and connect our kids with the earth. Over the course of a school year, we see Susan's coalition drive dramatic changes in one Westchester, NY school district.

Two Angry Moms shows not only what is wrong with school food; it offers strategies for overcoming roadblocks and getting healthy, good tasting, real food into school cafeterias. The movie explores the roles the federal government, corporate interests, school administration and parents play in feeding our country's school kids.

Two Angry Moms is a tool for parents and other advocates to learn how they can get real, whole, good food into schools and reverse the CDC's (Centers for Disease Control) prediction that this is the first generation in our nation's history that will live shorter lives than those of their parents.

The Fledgling Fund Impact

The Fledgling Fund is excited about the potential impact of Two Angry Moms. The film is more than an expose - it is a call to action to mothers, fathers and engaged citizens alike to wake up and pay attention to what our children are eating. We believe this film will inspire micro-movements in schools across the country that will together help to change a culture of unhealthy lifestyles for our children.