SCHOOL NUTRITION NEWS: How Higher Costs and Supply Chain Issues Are Affecting School Lunches
High inflation is not only squeezing family budgets across America — it is also hitting school cafeterias. The rising cost of food and ongoing disruptions to the supply chain are shrinking what's on the menu for students across the country. Some districts have been forced to pull back or make substitutions to deal with the spiraling cost of key ingredients. At Meade Middle School in Maryland's Anne Arundel County, the cafeteria staff has had to improvise. They used...
SCHOOL NUTRITION NEWS: Supply Chain Issues Still Causing Heartburn for Many School Districts
Lingering impacts of the pandemic are still on the menu in many school cafeterias. "We’re still dealing with certain food item shortages,” said Fort Bend ISD Child Nutrition Executive Director Matt Antignolo. He told us chicken products, in particular, remain challenging. But shortages are not limited to what you can eat. "Cutlery kits, styrofoam trays, what I would call traditional nacho boat food trays," said Antignolo. "We haven’t seen those in months or been able to get them.” Klein ISD’s Food Services...
Minnesota Ends School Lunch Shaming Over Student Debt
Minnesota lawmakers approved changes to school meal programs that stops what many advocates call "lunch shaming." And there's hope more steps will be taken to make free school lunches permanent. Colleen Moriarty said she’s been working for the last decade to make sure public school students are no longer embarrassed because they can’t afford their lunch bill. "Ten years ago we heard about snapping rubber bands on kids’ wrists, collection agencies going after families…lunches being dumped in...
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Secures $93 Million for School Lunch Program
Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried announced her department had secured $93 million from the USDA to help supplement a $262 million hit endured by school districts on lost lunch revenue throughout the pandemic. The Tuesday, July 6 announcement came after Fried claimed her calls for the Governor to redirect federal COVID relief funds towards the problem went unanswered. She said the money will help rebuild reserves and ensure the 71 percent of Florida school children receiving free...
SCHOOL NUTRITION NEWS: 2nd-Grader Helps Develop More Vegetarian Options for School Lunch Menu to Help the Environment
While many families and kids were preparing for summer break, in the last week of classes, Lila Miller, a second-grader at Roland Park K-8 in Tampa, wanted to make sure all kids have something they can eat on the school lunch menu. Miller, who became a vegetarian more than a year ago, developed a revised menu with more plant-based and meat-free options. Then, thanks to her assistant principal, she met with the school's nutrition manager to present...
SCHOOL NUTRITION NEWS: School Food Team Juggles School Lunch and Visit From President Joe Biden
For Teacher Appreciation week, President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden made their way to Yorktown (Va.) Elementary School and visited with some fifth graders. The school visit was part of the White House’s Getting America Back on Track: American Family Plan Tour, a push for returning to in-person learning for all kids. Prior to the visit, Yorktown’s Sodexo foodservice team didn’t have a lot of advanced notice but were tasked with setting up a...
School Nutrition News: ‘Buy American’ Executive Order Should Focus on School Meals
The National Council of Farm Cooperatives said the executive order President Biden signed Monday to enforce and strengthen “Buy American” provisions should lead to oversight of Agriculture Department school meals purchases. “The president is taking action to reset the U.S. government's longstanding approach to domestic preferences to create an approach that will remain durable for years to come and grow quality, union jobs,” the White House said in a fact sheet about the executive order. “The president's...
School Nutrition News: National School Lunch Week Celebrates Meals Served to Students
National School Lunch week shines the spotlight on the programs and nutritious food that’s served up every day all year long at schools across the country. “We have the opportunity in the state of Alabama to reach approximately three quarters of a million children on a daily basis for meals,” said June Barrett, Alabama Child Nutrition Program Coordinator for the state Department of Education. Nationally, the School Lunch Program serves nearly 30 million students every school...
School Nutrition News: Proclamation on National School Lunch Week, 2020
Washington, DC - During National School Lunch Week, we celebrate our Nation’s commitment to providing nutritious food to millions of students, and we recognize the many dedicated food service professionals and administrators who help carry out this mission. In a typical year, the National School Lunch Program provides meals to nearly 30 million schoolchildren every day across the country. These meals enable students in need to eat nutritious meals, which helps them achieve academic success and reach their...
WATCH: PCS’s Paypams Facilitates Delivery Options for Meals During Remote Learning
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools nutrition leaders introduced a meal bundle program that will enable students to get meals even as the district opens in fully-remote learning. With CMS Eats at Home, families can preorder meal bundles to be delivered once weekly or for pick up at one of 40 CMS sites. Bundles include five breakfasts and five lunches. Families will begin receiving meals the week of Sept. 1. RELATED: Ordering software for serving school meal anywhere...