READING, Pa. - Homeroom is just a little "homier" in Reading elementary schools this month, as kids are now starting their days with a nutritious breakfast before they begin their class work.
Some Reading students used to eat breakfast in the cafeteria, but this year, the district made the decision to feed everyone in their homerooms under the district's new Breakfast in the Classroom program. Students pick up a meal from kiosks at the school entrances and eat it at their desks.
Kurt Myers, food service director with the Reading School District, was curious to see how the program would be received after receiving a wealth of information about the potential benefits.
"Breakfast in the Classroom was reported to increase attendance, increase attentiveness, cut down on tardiness, and behavioral issues," says Myers. "The first week, I was beginning to hear reports from the building principals about just such things."
Myers says more than twice as many children are now eating school breakfast as last year, adding the logistics have been easier than expected. He notes it was important to get everyone on board, from parents and teachers to the school food service and janitorial staff. They're planning a meeting in early October to assess the results so far.
The health and nutrition benefits of eating breakfast have long been touted in research. The Food Research and Action Center helped Reading schools with the transition to Breakfast in the Classroom, and according to Jessica Hewins, the center's child nutrition policy analyst, another important benefit of school breakfasts is enabling a child to ease into a busy school day.
"The kids have a few minutes at the start of the day to eat their breakfast and talk to their fellow students or their teacher," says Hewins. "It's a nice routine, and it really does help set the tone for the day and get the kids focused and in their seats."
The costs of Breakfast in the Classroom at Reading are covered by the federal School Breakfast Program and charitable grants.
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Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer.
Federal officials have approved the Badger State's plan to join a new program that includes dozens of other states. Gov. Tony Evers has said Wisconsin is the first state to get the green light for the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer program, and 36 other states are poised to launch this summer. Eligible households will receive pre-loaded debit cards that families can use to buy groceries.
Shelly Fortner, executive director of The Hunger Task Force of La Crosse applauded the move, noting that half of kids in the local school district already qualify for free and reduced-price lunches during school.
"We've got families with low incomes - most of them working, by the way - but just not able to put that extra meal on the table for kids who are home during the summer months," she said.
This new permanent program, authorized by Congress, is similar to the enhanced meal access the federal government provided during the pandemic. Throughout Wisconsin, there are separate meal sites for these kids when school isn't in session, but supporters of the new effort say it provides more flexibility, especially for households with limited transportation options.
State officials have pointed out that most families already enrolled in the National School Lunch Program will automatically receive the summer benefits.
Fortner said meal access aids kids in their learning. For the summer, she said, the additional access will keep them active.
"We've had a lot of information about sedentary activities like video games and TV and all of that," he said, "but our kids are now getting outdoors more, and they need to have that energy to be able to keep that up."
She added that this should help foster healthy lifelong habits for kids and prevent them from starting the next school year feeling sluggish. For each eligible child, the state will provide a one-time summer benefit of $120. It's anticipated the money will be available in late June.
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Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online tool could help more school districts participate.
The effort is a key component of the Healthy School Meals for All initiative approved by voters in 2022.
Taylor Frederick - culinary programs manager with Nourish Colorado - said over the past couple of years, school meal operators have identified best practices that can be adopted by other school districts, including how to work with local farms and ranches.
"How you can find your local producer," said Frederick, "and even how to put out specific bids for specific local items, and how to work these sorts of things into your menus."
The new Colorado Local Food Program Guidebook, available online at 'guidebook.nourishcolorado.org,' offers tips and tools for launching and sustaining farm-to-school programs.
The guide also offers ways for parents and community members to engage with their local school district, to encourage them to opt into the voluntary program or make menu recommendations.
Frederick explained that the guide begins with a short quiz that helps direct users to the right resources.
For example, food producers who want to sell their produce to reliable kiddo customers can learn how school district cafeterias operate and purchase food.
"To better understand the school market channels," said Frederick, "the bid process, the price points that school districts are working with, their timing, and a little bit about their menus and products that they are looking for."
He said school meal operators can also get tips on how to transition from serving canned and processed foods to preparing meals with fresh ingredients through a series of training videos.
"Some different types of kitchen equipment that might be in the schools, we have training videos on those," said Frederick. "Some vegetable cookery techniques. Those were the big things that school districts and school meal authorities were really saying that they wanted."
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During National Nutrition Month, groups like Virginia Fresh Match are providing people with healthy fresh food options.
Since 2009, the coalition of farmer's markets and mobile food stores has been helping people on SNAP or EBT get access to healthier foods. Some groups have found almost 24% of the benefits are used for healthy foods, while more often they are spent on sugary snacks, premade foods, and meats.
Elizabeth Borst, director of advocacy for Virginia Fresh Match, said everyone should have the opportunity to access healthy foods.
"Just making sure that people both have access to high-quality food and that quality food is affordable to them," Borst explained. "Fresh fruits and vegetables can often be the last thing that people will choose when they are on a really limited budget, so we want to make sure that is accessible to people."
The Consumer Price Index showed food prices drastically increased between 2022 and 2023, but prices have slightly declined in 2024.
Food insecurity has been a long-standing issue for Virginians. Hunger Free America's 2023 Annual Hunger Survey found almost 774,000 people in Virginia are food insecure. Borst emphasized her group is focusing on its "food is medicine" work to ensure no one goes hungry.
While Virginia Fresh Match has been able to accomplish a lot during its multiyear history, there have been some challenges. Borst observed one long-term challenge has been funding sustainability. Like the rest of the world, the pandemic presented a significant hurdle for them, though it created some interesting changes.
"We just had a huge bump in our redemptions and usage of the program," Borst stressed. "That really didn't taper off even though there's been a 40% decrease in SNAP benefit allotments once the pandemic emergency benefits ended."
Emergency allotments provided all SNAP recipients with an additional $95 per month, affecting 470,000 families across the state.
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