Help your child navigate school lunch options
According to the CDC, it’s a good opportunity to remind parents that one in five children in the US is obese as families are settled in their return routine.
Scripps News
King of Prussia, Pennsylvania – Landon Cielniak was a bit shy about what he likes at the Fuel Up Food Expo, but his classmate Declan Donnelly didn’t hold back.
“I was able to eat a pound of this!” Donnelly said he has been posting sample sizes of macaroni and cheese, and half a dozen vendors of macaroni and cheese to help students in trying out different school lunch options, like (and dislike) the host American Dairy Association’s Northeast, and to help shape what they’re looking at the local triettes, he has posted sample sizes of macaroni and cheese, and half a dozen vendors of the Expo.
Cierniak and Donnelly, fourth graders at Edgewood Elementary School in Yardley, Pennsylvania, were around 175 elementary, middle and high school students who enjoyed the day apart from their classes. The DJ played dance music. Students got t-shirts, bags, stickers and other stolen items. And the celebrity guest – the Philadelphia Eagles mascot hyped the kids and posed for selfies before the taste test began.
Cierniak also liked the Mac and Cheese, but when he tried out the chicken tinga and was asked if he liked pork, he pulled the pork, nodded, and smiled widely.
The Northeastern American Dairy Association, representing approximately 9,000 dairy farmers across the region, tallies the results of children’s survey responses. This is written with a checklist marker containing three emojis for each food.
School lunches keep children prepared and focused
Caitlyn Wilson, a paraprofessional at Upper Merion (Pa.) Middle School, said it’s important for kids to have a delicious breakfast and a nutritious lunch.
“It helps to prepare and focus,” Wilson leads 20 students from station to station, allowing them to sample empanadas, plantains, rice dishes, pizza, muffins, cereals, breakfast sandwiches, overnight oats, bruschetta, noodles (and yes, mac, cheese).
Wilson noted that all students at her school receive a complimentary breakfast. The morning break, about 20 minutes before school day officially begins, telling the kids “it takes a few minutes” before class and say “it takes a few minutes.”
It helps children and for educators who teach them, Wilson said.
Stephen Winter, a 16-year-old junior at Brooklyn South High School, and her classmate and friend Grismarie Lopez, wears “Love Not Hate” hoodies and say they want to see the multiculturalism of their school reflected in their lunch offerings.
“We like the variety on the menu,” Winter said as Lopez declared the pulled pork “great.” I’m not even a pork fan. ”
Federal fund cuts could affect already locked-up districts
The USDA recently proposed raising more than $1 billion in funding to help schools and food banks buy food from local farmers. The School Nutrition Association said in a March 10 news release that USDA cut funding for its 2025 local school cooperative agreement program.
“These proposals will result in millions of children losing access to free school lunches when working families struggle to raise food costs,” Shannon Gleave, president of the organization, said in the release.
Katty Peña, director of student culture at West Philadelphia High School, said students there were already in a pinch. And Pena, who runs the after-school culinary arts club, hopes that some of the Fuel Up Expo’s offerings will help them find a way to the school’s cafeteria.
For some students at West Philadelphia High, breakfast and lunch (and dinner if they are in a cooking program) may be the only regular meals they receive at school, she said. And if the kids don’t like what’s on offer, “they just grab the food and then they look at it and throw it in the trash can,” so giving them nutritious and delicious food can go a long way.
“As a teacher, I don’t know the situation in their home,” she said. However, many students tell her how families must choose cheaper and highly processed foods than healthier, fresher, yet more expensive foods. Having healthier options in school means at least getting nutrients and learning how to eat better to avoid chronic health conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure.
What is an ice cream-free field trip?
Kristina Moher, senior director of youth engagement at the Dairy Association, held his breath after a busy day gained the opinions of dozens of school children, and the kids finished the day with ice cream, a chilly snack.
The group will refuel events to solicit young people’s ideas and then make recommendations to nutrition directors of schools within the individual district.
“Educators love it, and so are the kids,” she said. “It’s about showing people that they care about their opinions.”
These opinions were shared fairly freely by 10-year-old Manumi Bilal, including 10-year-old Mayumi Bilal, attending middle school (Pennsylvania) middle school. Is her favorite? Woodles, whole grain ramen noodles, chicken, macaroni and cheese – the latter is very good, “The cheese melts in your mouth!”
