K-12

Operations

Virginia farm-to-school task force bill signed into law

Also in this week’s K-12 legislative update: Maryland lawmakers pass bill that would analyze the cost of setting up a universal free school meals program and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz says yes to extra funding to continue universal free school meals.

Operations

School breakfast and lunch participation drops following loss of universal free meals

A new report by the Food Research and Action Center shows a decrease in school meal participation when comparing the 2022-23 school year to the 2021-22 school year.

Also in this week’s K-12 legislation update: Lawmakers pen a letter to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture asking that potatoes remain a vegetable in the 2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans and a pair of bills in Virginia that would set up a farm-to-school task force head to the governor for signature.

Staff training and partnering with school leaders was essential to making the program’s launch go smoothly.

Make-Your-Own offers students a weekly themed lunch option that is built around customization.

Explore new ways to use ingredients that help create worry-free menu items for K-12 students with common food allergies.

Also in this week’s K-12 legislative update: Biden’s proposed FY 2025 budget includes funding for expanding free school meal access and a California bill would ban certain additives in school menu items.

Also in this week's K-12 legislative update: Tennessee companion bills would allow schools in the state to serve whole milk again and Delaware lawmakers advance bills addressing lunch shaming and universal free meals.

School nutrition professionals traveled to Washington D.C. this week to discuss reimbursement rates, proposed changes to the school nutrition standards and more.

Forty-two public school districts and charter schools in the state will receive financial assistance to implement alternative school breakfast models such as breakfast in the classroom.

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