WEST KENTUCKY – It’s almost time to send your children back on the school bus, get any last-minute supplies, and pack those lunch boxes.
If your kids plan on eating at school, do you know what is being served?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says students who don’t get enough fruits, vegetables and dairy products often have lower grades.
Thousands of schools across the U.S. are federally funded by the National School Lunch Program. That helps schools meet nutrition standards by serving more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.
So who qualifies for the National School Lunch Program?
Children in households with incomes below 130 percent of the poverty level – or those who are in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) qualify for free meals.
A majority of the schools in the Local 6 area are federally funded by the national school lunch program.
“Mama cooks one meal and that’s what you’re going to eat,” Jessica Perry’s daughter is heading into the 3rd grade at Carlisle Elementary – and she’s learning all about trial and error.
“If she doesn’t like brussels sprouts, that’s okay. As long as she tries them. The earlier she’s able to get a good foundation and healthy eating it’ll help her in the long run,” Perry said.
She wants her daughter to understand that picking up that apple versus a bag of potato chips will be better in the long run.
“I just want her to understand that food is to fuel her body, to help us to be strong, to help our brain work the way it should,” Perry said. “And [to] have the energy to do everything that we have to do during the day,”
She says they stick to one fruit and vegetable every day, and they have a strict no frying rule. Desserts in her home are allowed, every once in a while. As for being at school, she says she trusts what is served on her daughter’s plate.
Lacinda Bass is the Food Service Director at Carlise County Schools. She says all 700 of her students have been on the National School Lunch Program for more than 10 years. Since regulations changed in 2012, she says everything is a lot healthier.
“We put signage up and let them know what’s healthy and watch which foods to choose,” Bass said. “We encourage them to eat fresh fruits and fresh vegetables and we offer those,”
The National School Lunch Program requires students to fill up their tray with milk, fruit, vegetable, a whole grain, meat or alternative, and a dairy. If you don’t want a piece of fruit or vegetable, you can put it at the ‘share table’ for someone else to grab.
Megan Adams is the Foodservice Director at Hickman County schools. They are also federally funded by the National School Lunch Program.
“Eating is so important, nutrition is so important, and you can just really see it in these kids daily,” Adams says healthy eating goes beyond the lunch tray. She teaches students healthy eating habits in the classroom.
“When we know that we’re testing that week, for example, our guidance counselors are emailing me saying, ‘I know what my kids favorite breakfast is, we know what their favorite meals are, let’s get their bellies full that way their brains can be as active as they possibly can,’” Adams said.
Those teachers are seeing their brains being active because of healthy eating habits. “We really care what the students are eating,” Adams said. “We really care about the products that we’re giving our students and we really care that they’re getting those full meal trays every single day,”
For some students at Hickman County Schools, this is the only meal they’ll eat. “You can see it on these kids faces throughout the day, you can see who really needs it the most,” Adams said.
Adams says that’s why they strive to offer healthy options and alternatives. “There were implementing so many new things all the time are consistently innovating here at Hickman County Schools and we are really listening to our students because our students are who we serve,” Adams said.
Adams says with the National School Lunch Program, you can be assured your children are being served the nutrients they need.
Carlisle and Hickman County Schools provide their breakfast and lunch menus on their school website, so you know what your child is eating every day.
Hickman County Schools received a grant to provide a new freezer to be able to serve more school lunches and healthy options.