Earlier this month, the Food Research & Action Center in Washington, D.C., published its annual School Breakfast Scorecard, analyzing school breakfast participation throughout the country for the 2017-2018 school year. Here are six things to know from the report.
All told, 14.6 million students participated in school breakfast on an average school day last year. Almost 12.5 million of those participants came from low-income families and received free or reduced-price breakfast. Low-income student breakfast participation increased 1.2% compared to the prior school year.
2. W. Va has the highest participation among low-income students
For the fifth year in a row, West Virginia had the highest rate of student breakfast participation among low-income students. For every 100 low-income students partaking in school lunch throughout the state, 83.7 participated in school breakfast.
3. Mont. sees the biggest increase in low-income participation
Montana saw the greatest growth in breakfast participation among low-income students: Participation among recipients of free and reduced-price meals grew by 12.3%.
New takes on old-school recipes and flavors were spotted throughout the show. Favorite after-school snacks, Saturday morning cereal and birthday cake sprinkles are the inspo.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and its partners have announced the first round of grant recipients for the program, which aims to support projects intended to strengthen the supply chain for school foodservice programs.