As the nation continues to grapple with the pandemic, as many as 1 in 6 kids could be facing hunger in Indiana. Luckily, we have at our disposal a powerful tool to make sure kids don’t have to start their day with an empty stomach. School breakfast provides the consistent nutrition kids need to learn, grow and reach their full potential.
Here in Indiana, partners are working non-stop to ensure kids are able to access healthy school breakfast. The Indiana Partnership for Hunger-Free Students coordinates statewide efforts to ensure that no child goes hungry in the state, and is composed of groups like school nutrition professionals, community advocates, health systems, and University partners.
For example, thanks to support from Purdue Extension’s Nutrition Education Program and guidance from their school nutrition team, School City of Hammond was able to provide an additional 64,550 school breakfasts to students.
And Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corporation worked with Ascension St. Vincent Evansville Hospital to increase breakfast participation by launching a grab-and-go breakfast program in some of their schools that allows students to take their meals to the classroom–after 3 months of implementation, participation in the school breakfast program increased from 31% to 51%.
It’s like USDA FNS Midwest Regional Administrator Dr. Vista Fletcher says: “A healthy school breakfast is a great way for our youth to start their school day for energy and academic success – and we’re thankful to our child nutrition partners such as No Kid Hungry Indiana and the State of Indiana who are helping to provide healthy well-balanced meals to youth across Indiana.”
Even during these chaotic times, schools and local organizations have continued to make sure kids get the healthy food and nutrition they need. The nationwide child nutrition waivers have allowed them to be flexible and responsive. Without these waivers, their job is going to be much harder. Due to challenges like staffing shortages, supply chain issues and the ongoing pandemic, school nutrition staff already have an immensely difficult task. By not including authorization to extend child nutrition waivers, Congress just made their jobs even harder.
This March, as we celebrate National Nutrition Month, we’re grateful for all those working to provide nutritious school breakfasts and other healthy school meals to kids throughout Indiana. Feeding kids today is one of the best ways we can ensure they’re ready to meet the challenges of tomorrow–whatever they may be.
- SIGN OUR PETITION: Add your name to this petition to Congress and the White House.
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- Sign the Petition to Extend Child Nutrition WaiversCritical child nutrition waivers are set to expire on June 30. Without the ongoing flexibility provided by these waivers, it will be harder for schools to serve meals and for kids to get the food they need. Yet so far, Congress has failed to take action to extend them. Congress and the White House must come together on a solution to fix this. Please add your voice to this fight. Click here to sign the petition.
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- Congress failed to extend critical #ChildNutrition waivers. As a result, hungry kids across the country may miss out on more than 95 million meals this summer and many more next school year. They have the power to fix this. Sign the petition today https://bit.ly/3ifWKiM