In October, the USDA's Food and Nutrition Services division, which oversees
the subsidized meal program, circulated a memo saying that while it encourages the use of salad bars in schools, school menu planners must tell students the minimum amounts they must take from salad bars, cashiers «must be trained to judge accurately the quantities of self - service items,» and point of sale registers «must be stationed after the salad bar.»
Erica Goodman, a graduate student in media studies at the University of Colorado, Boulder, volunteers in the local schools as part of a campaign to boost participation in
the subsidized meal program.
In October, the USDA's Food and Nutrition Services division, which oversees
the subsidized meal program, circulated a memo saying that while it encourages the use of salad bars in schools, school menu planners must tell students the minimum amounts they must take from salad bars, cashiers «must be trained to judge accurately the quantities of self - service items,» and point - of - sale registers «must be stationed after the salad bar.»
No school is allowed to sell soda as part of the federally
subsidized meal program, and fruits and vegetables are now required meal components.
However, foods served at classroom parties and at other school functions aren't covered under these guidelines (even though they do compete with the federally
subsidized meals program, at least in my mind).
Everyone else lives pretty much in a perpetual state of misery, trying to figure out how they can possibly serve good food on the few scheckels the federal government provides in
its subsidized meal programs.
For many children, the federally -
subsidized meals program, where milk is a required element at breakfast and at lunch, is an important source of calcium and vitamin D — at least when school is in session.
But the biggest problem I've had all along with this approach is that it does not address the needs of elementary school children, who are the biggest consumers of the federally -
subsidized meals program.
Federally
subsidized meal programs have since expanded to include school breakfast as well as after - school and summer options.
Not exact matches
Some are advocating for the government to
subsidize a free or reduced - cost
meal program in higher education, similar to what's available in K - 12 schools.
She struggles to sell thousands of families on her belief that the federally -
subsidized school
meals program can support made - from - scratch food that's not only nutritious and sustainably sourced, but also attractive to kids trained to prefer convenience foods.
-LSB-...] In order to break even under the current federal
program, school districts almost universally sell «a la carte» foods in addition to the federally
subsidized meal.
The jolt in demand for government -
subsidized meals comes as many school
programs are struggling to balance their food service budgets because of higher costs and a decline in paying customers, school nutrition advocates said.
Micheline Piekarski, president of the Illinois School Food Service Association, said some schools might find it cheaper to drop out of
subsidized lunch
programs altogether and offer more expensive, less nutritious ala carte menus instead of full
meals.
While the federal lunch
program subsidizes school
meals at a rate of $ 2.68 each, schools must shoulder the other costs.
But then the federal
program is in direct competition with the cool junk food, so the
subsidized meals start to look as much like the snack bar as possible to keep those kids in the
program.
Yet, much of that work depends on a simple, often unstated, assumption: that the short list of control variables captured in educational data systems — prior achievement, student demographics, English language learner status, eligibility for federally
subsidized meals or
programs for gifted and special education students — include the relevant factors by which students are sorted to teachers and schools.
These
programs subsidize meals for more than 30 million low - income children, provide supplemental funding to 56,000 high - poverty schools, and support special education
programs for nearly 7 million students.
Many children depend upon
subsidized school
meal programs to supplement substandard diets at home; when summer arrives, that aid frequently goes away.