FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 4, 2024
Contact: Adam Keigwin | akeigwin@mercuryllc.com | 916-256-5758
Championing School Breakfast: Powering Students for Success
Sacramento, Calif. – In recognition of the pivotal role that school breakfast plays in nourishing young learners, the California State Assembly is set to officially designate March 4-8 as School Breakfast Week. This comes following a resolution by Assemblymember Steve Bennett (D-38), highlighting the critical need for school breakfast programs, especially for the nearly one in five children in California facing food insecurity. Responding to this need, No Kid Hungry California has been proactive since the start of the school year, providing over $400,000 in grants to boost school breakfast program participation statewide.
The following is a statement from No Kid Hungry California Director Kathy Saile:
“Starting the school day with a healthy school breakfast ensures California students start the day energized and ready to learn. No child should ever face the challenge of starting the school day on an empty stomach. Schools who offer Breakfast After the Bell provide nutritious meals for most children and those students experience more success in their long-term health and education indicators.”
The text of ACR 143 is as follows:
- WHEREAS, Nearly one in five California children live in food insecure households, meaning they do not have consistent access to adequate food; and
- WHEREAS, California ranks 33rd in the nation in school breakfast participation, and only 39 percent of pupils who qualify for free or reduced-price school meals are eating school breakfast; and
- WHEREAS, More than 58 percent of California public school pupils qualify for free or reduced-price school meals, yet many of those low-income pupils are not eating the nutritious school breakfast offered due to barriers such as social stigma, late buses or carpools, long cafeteria lines, and tight class schedules; and
- WHEREAS, Eating breakfast as part of the schoolday is associated with positive pupil behavioral health and academic performances, such as better test score results, improved concentration in class, lower rates of chronic absenteeism, fewer classroom disruptions, and less frequent visits to the school nurse; and
- WHEREAS, Breakfast After the Bell programs, such as breakfast in the classroom, grab and go breakfast, and second chance breakfast, are proven meal delivery methods that boost school breakfast participation and related positive outcomes; and
- WHEREAS, School breakfast participation is associated with a lower body mass index, which is an indicator of sustainable body fat, lower probability of being overweight, and lower probability of obesity; and
- WHEREAS, States across the nation have introduced legislation to require that schools with a high percentage of pupils who are eligible for free or reduced-price school meals implement a Breakfast After the Bell program; and
- WHEREAS, If California schools increased school breakfast participation such that 70 percent of the pupils who eat free or reduced-price lunch also participated in their school’s breakfast program, an additional 335,997 pupils would receive breakfast every day and school districts would receive more than $100,000,000 in federal meal reimbursements for their school nutrition budgets; now, therefore, be it
- Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate thereof concurring, That the Legislature proclaims March 4, 2024, to March 8, 2024, inclusive, as School Breakfast Week; and be it further
- Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.
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About No Kid Hungry
No child should go hungry in America. But millions of kids in the United States live with hunger. No Kid Hungry is working to end childhood hunger by helping launch and improve programs that give all kids the healthy food they need to thrive. This is a problem we know how to solve. No Kid Hungry is a campaign of Share Our Strength, an organization committed to ending hunger and poverty. Join us at nokidhungry.org.
Last Reviewed: March 5, 2024