This week it came to light that McDonald’s contacted primary schools and early childhood centres in my home town of Mildura in Victoria, offering to cater a lunch-time meal as part of their 'School Support Program'. This story was covered by The Age, provoking responses of disbelief, anger and frustration from fellow parents both locally and across Australia.

As a parent of three young children I am outraged that McDonald’s would consider it appropriate to target children at school and even more disgusting that they would target young kids at kinder, a setting where I had assumed that my kids would be protected from this kind of aggressive junk food marketing.

Let’s get something straight. McDonald’s in not in the business of ‘supporting schools’. They are in the business of selling fast food. Their motive is for schools to unwittingly endorse their products and to reach our children while they are young and most vulnerable to the influence of manipulative marketing.

It’s hard to believe that in 2015, with around one quarter of Australian children currently overweight or obese; McDonald’s Australia believes it is acceptable to promote fast food to kids in schools. This completely undermines the healthy eating lessons children learn in the classroom and at home.

If McDonald’s Australia is committed to marketing to children responsibly, which it claims to be, it will not allow further McDonald’s promotions, programs or products in Australian schools.

Please sign this petition to ask McDonald’s Australia to make a public commitment to stop any kind of promotions, vouchers or provision of school lunches in schools. You can help set Australian kids up for the healthiest future possible by taking a stand on junk food marketing in schools.

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