Blog
Apr
An Indiana school district is taking steps to make sure kids have enough to eat.
Elkhart Community Schools students usually get breakfast and lunch at school lunch food, but on the weekends at home, they may be without food.
That’s where the South Bend-based non-profit Cultivate Culinary comes in: it provides weekend meals to a small group of students in the elementary school pilot program.
“Mostly, we rescue food that’s been made but never served by catering companies, large food service businesses, like the school system,” said Jim Conklin of Cultivate Culinary. “You don’t always think of a school.”
It rescues the unused food.
“Over-preparing is just part of what happens,” said Conklin. “We take well-prepared food, combine it with other food and make individual frozen meals out if it.”
Twenty students will receive a backpack with eight individual frozen meals every Friday until the end of school.
“At Elkhart Community Schools, we were wasting a lot of food,” said Natalie Bickel, student services. “There wasn’t anything to do with the food. So they came to the school three times a week and rescued the food.”
The Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Academy Commerce helped get the pilot program going.
“It’s making a big impact,” said Melissa Ramey, Chamber Leadership Academy. “I am proud of that. It was heartbreaking to hear that children go home on the weekends and that they don’t have anything to eat.”
It’s making a big difference in the lives of the students receiving the meals. The Elkhart school system wants to expand the food program to other schools.
Republished with permission from KTXS12 News
Nov
USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue and Acting Deputy Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services Brandon Lipps joined students in New Jersey, Virginia and the District of Columbia for wholesome school lunches.
Secretary Perdue visited Discovery Elementary School in Arlington, Va., where he met with the school’s nutrition professionals, and served the children meals before joining them for lunch.
Last year, USDA took action to provide menu planning flexibilities that underscore USDA’s commitment to assisting schools in serving nutritious and appealing school meals. Responding to school nutrition professionals, USDA began making changes to school meal program rules to provide more options and flexibility on whole grains, sodium, and milk. An interim rule making these changes, the “Child Nutrition Programs: Flexibilities for Milk, Whole Grains, and Sodium Requirements” rule is now in effect. USDA plans to release the final version of this rule later this year.
Secretary Perdue visited Discovery Elementary School in Arlington, VA (USDA)
Acting Deputy Under Secretary Lipps visited Eagle Academy Public Charter School (PCS) in Washington, D.C., where he ate with the students and toured their school garden.
Eagle Academy PCS received a USDA Farm to School Grant in 2017, which helped bring locally-grown produce directly to the lunchroom. “Farm to school gives schools the flexibility to serve appealing, seasonally-available foods, raised by local farmers,” Lipps said. “It is also a great tool for educating students so they understand that these nutritious foods are grown by America’s farmers.”
Acting Deputy Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services Brandon Lipps kicked off with a visit to Eagle Academy Public Charter School (PCS) in Washington, D.C.
Lipps joined students for lunch at Manalapan-Englishtown Middle School in Manalapan, N.J. During the visit, Lipps also met with the school’s food service management company and nutrition officials from the state of New Jersey. “Children all across America deserve world-class food service – and schools are best positioned to deliver that service in their communities,” Lipps said. “USDA is committed to providing the local flexibilities they need to do what they do best – serve our kids nutritious meals they want to eat.”
Acting Deputy Under Secretary Brandon Lipps eats his school lunch alongside students at Eagle Academy.
USDA’s FNS works to reduce food insecurity and promote nutritious diets among the American people. The agency administers 15 nutrition assistance programs that leverage American’s agricultural abundance to ensure children and low-income individuals and families have nutritious food to eat. FNS also co-develops the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which provide science-based nutrition recommendations and serve as the cornerstone of federal nutrition policy.
Via USDA.gov
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