skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Push to Get More Breakfast Programs in Minnesota Schools

play audio
Play

Thursday, March 14, 2013   

ST. PAUL, Minn. - A lot of children in Minnesota start the school day hungry, and a new initiative is aimed at making sure they get fed.

Many of the students are eligible for free or reduced-price breakfast, said Jason Langworthy, outreach coordinator at Children's Defense Fund Minnesota, but they either aren't taking advantage or their school currently doesn't offer breakfast.

"Children's Defense Fund, in cooperation with Hunger Free Minnesota, is really seeking to try to address the underutilized school breakfast program," he said, "and really trying to help close the missing meal gap and try to get more students and more schools to utilize that school breakfast program."

The school breakfast initiative is part of Hunger Free Minnesota's goal to provide 100 million additional meals annually to help fight hunger in the state.

Increasing the number of children who take part in school breakfast programs also would help support the local economy, Langworthy said, because a majority of the funding would come through the federal government.

"We're talking millions of dollars here that could go to farmers, to Minnesota companies that are supplying breakfast," he said. "Right now, about $20 million is being left on the table for these Minnesota businesses, and it's about $40 million that's being left on the table for school districts. These are funds that are there. They're available. They're just being underutilized."

A number of schools in Minnesota have added breakfast programs in recent years. Langworthy said that includes a variety of models, including the traditional scenario where children are served and eat in the cafeteria.

"It could be a grab-and-go model for high schools or middle schools where, as they come in off the buses, they're grabbing a breakfast and then they're eating it at their lockers," he said, "or having breakfast delivered to first-period classes so that students are eating and continuing that curriculum time."

Studies have found that children who eat breakfast, compared with those who skip the morning meal, perform better at school, record higher test scores and are absent or late less often.

More information is online at cdf-mn.org.




get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021