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School Breakfast Program


A Healthy Start to the School Day Leads to Bright Opportunities Ahead

March 05, 2018 Cynthia Long, Deputy Administrator for Child Nutrition Programs, Food and Nutrition Service

Wholesome meals at school support educational achievement – and bright opportunities ahead for our nation’s kids and teens. Which is why, each year, during National School Breakfast Week (March 5-9), USDA recognizes the importance of a healthy start and the many ways the School Breakfast Program...

Food and Nutrition

'Turnip the Beet' Recognizes High Quality Summer Meals

April 06, 2017 Rachel Polon, MPH, RD, Nutritionist, Food and Nutrition Service

When thinking of summer meal programs, what comes to mind? Hot lunches and fresh produce bars? Themed menus made with fresh, local foods? Taste tests and cooking lessons? Summer meal sponsors nationwide are working hard to make sure these practices are the new norms, and the positive movement is...

Food and Nutrition

Celebrating School Breakfast Week: Giving Students a Great Start to Their School Day!

March 07, 2017 Hans Billger, Public Affairs Specialist, Food and Nutrition Service

Did you skip breakfast today? Remember that feeling of discomfort and distraction as you counted down the time until lunch? Staring at the clock, the minutes just didn’t move fast enough. Now imagine yourself as a child, with a packed morning full of writing, thinking and learning in front of you –...

Food and Nutrition

Fighting Hunger: Closing the Summer Feeding Gap

December 16, 2016 Kalena Thomhave, Program Analyst, Community Meals Branch, Child Nutrition Programs, Food and Nutrition Service

Summer is tough to enjoy when you’re hungry. It’s a hard reality that many kids from low-income households face when school is out and the weather turns sunny. To help close the summer feeding gap, the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer demonstration offers a new model to do just that. Without the...

Food and Nutrition

Celebrating Progress: National School Lunch Week 2016

October 11, 2016 Dr. Katie Wilson, Deputy Undersecretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services, USDA

Cross-posted from the Food Research and Action Center blog: Last week, children from more than a dozen schools and child care centers across the nation joined First Lady Michelle Obama for her final harvest of the White House garden. This event was more than just photo ops and shaking hands; kids...

Food and Nutrition

September is National Food Safety Education Month

September 15, 2016 Charlsia Fortner, Food Safety Specialist, Food and Nutrition Service

Can you believe that September is already here? It may not feel like fall where you are, but, slowly, our focus has begun to shift from summer fun to returning to school and learning. For more than twenty years, September has been recognized as National Food Safety Education Month. The National Food...

Initiatives Health and Safety

Celebrating Progress: Back to School 2016-17

August 24, 2016 Dr. Katie Wilson, Deputy Under Secretary, Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services

As Deputy Under Secretary, I have the honor and the pleasure of traveling to schools across the country to see our programs in action. Through my visits, I’ve had a chance to meet with hundreds of dedicated school administrators and school nutrition professionals, hearing countless testimonials of...

Food and Nutrition

A Conversation with USDA Leader Audrey Rowe

August 03, 2016 Helena Rudoff, USDA Office of Communications

Audrey Rowe serves as the Administrator for the Food and Nutrition Service. Rowe oversees the nation’s 15 federal nutrition assistance programs, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, and National School Lunch...

Food and Nutrition

Our Students Have a Voice in School Meals

April 27, 2016 Erika Pijai, Child Nutrition Programs, Food and Nutrition Service

One key strategy in helping schools serve nutritious and appealing meals that students will eat is to simply ask, “What do you need?” On April 9, USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) asked this simple yet compelling question to nearly 40 4-H delegates at the 2016 National 4-H Conference in Chevy...

Food and Nutrition

New What's Cooking? Recipes and Cooking Videos Help School Food Service and Home Cooks Make Mouthwatering Meals

April 11, 2016 Cheryl Jackson Lewis, Director, Nutrition Promotion and Technical Assistance Division, Child Nutrition Programs, Food and Nutrition Service

USDA’s Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services just released 50 new, mouth-watering recipes for schools chefs on our What’s Cooking? USDA Mixing Bowl website. Some are existing USDA recipes that we’ve updated, while others are brand new recipes that students will love. These tasty, kid-approved...

Food and Nutrition
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