Hunger is a solvable problem.
Food insecurity is a critical issue in Los Angeles County, where nearly 1.8 million people, or about 18% of the population, experience food insecurity, meaning they do not have consistent access to enough nutritious food for an active and healthy life. This issue disproportionately affects families with low-income, with 1 in 5 kids in the county facing hunger.
Children in food-insecure households are more likely to experience developmental delays, lower academic performance, and behavioral problems. Food insecurity also exacerbates mental health issues, with studies showing that food-insecure individuals report higher levels of stress, anxiety, and depression. The situation is worsened by the county’s high cost of living, where access to affordable and nutritious food is limited.
At No Kid Hungry, we are committed to ensuring that every kid has three healthy meals a day, 365 days a year. This is why we are honored to work with Hunger Heroes from Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Nutrition Services to launch the Access to Breakfast Challenge!
LAUSD Access to Breakfast Challenge
Meet the A2B Challenge Winners!
Find out the LA Schools who won the Access to Breakfast Challenge here!
Overview
With more than 1000 school sites and over 400,000 enrolled students, LAUSD has many challenges to overcome in educating our next generation of leaders and ensuring their scholars have a nutritious start to their school day.
The LAUSD Access to Breakfast (A2B) Challenge’s goal is to get more students eating breakfast and enhance their school breakfast program through the engagement of their school community of families, educators, and administrators. This friendly competition aims to increase daily breakfast participation by 10,000 meals!
Why Breakfast?
While ALL students in California eat school breakfast and lunch at no cost, barriers persist. Beyond their control, such as unstable housing, unreliable transportation, lack of access to health care, or stigma, continue to force students to not eat breakfast. A hungry student can lead to chronic absenteeism (missing 15 days or more school days for any reason), difficulty learning, as well as increased behavioral and health problems.
Studies have shown and proven that school breakfast can change lives. Eating a school breakfast can reduce chronic absenteeism by as much as 6 percent and improve a student’s focus and success in reading and math.
Eligibility & Award Categories
The A2B Challenge is available to Los Angeles Unified School District schools.
Awards will be given in two categories: the highest increase in breakfast participation and the highest breakfast participation as a percentage of average daily attendance.
A total of eight schools, two winners per the four regions, can win an array of prizes and activities.
SPONSORS
The Access to Breakfast Challenge is made possible by the generosity and support from our partners, thank you!
Breakfast Hero Sponsors
In-Kind Sponsors
Dollar Tree
Habit Burger & Grill
Last updated: April 3, 2025
