WASHINGTON, DC — The Biden-Harris administration has provided schools with a $50 million grant to invest in new school feeding facilities that will allow schools to continue serving nutritious meals. The funding is in addition to her $30 million equipment grant the government provided to the school earlier this year. The announcement comes as the USDA joins forces with partners and advocates in the children’s nutrition community to celebrate School Lunch Week nationwide (October 10 through her October 14).
Additional support for school feeding and children’s nutrition builds on momentum at last month’s White House conference on hunger, nutrition and health, which the administration aims to end hunger and reduce diet-related illnesses by 2030. announced a national strategy for
“Ensuring access to nutritious school meals is one of the best investments we can make in the fight to end hunger and improve the health of children,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “This week, as we commend the brave efforts of school nutrition professionals across the country, the USDA will help schools overcome challenges such as rising food prices and ongoing supply chain disruptions,” said Dr. We are doubling down on our commitment to supporting the. These additional resources will enable schools to serve healthy and engaging meals by meeting critical foodservice equipment needs. ”
USDA provides state subsidies (see https://fns-prod.azureedge.us/sites/default/files/resource-files/sp01-2023-attachment1-state-allocations.pdf for a breakdown by state). ), using a competitive application process to award them to school districts participating in school feeding programs nationwide. School districts can use the funds to purchase upgraded equipment to support.
• Offer healthier meals, including locally sourced foods.
• Scratch cooking implementation.
• Establish or expand school breakfasts.
• Storage of perishables.
• Improving food safety.
Below are some testimonials of how equipment grants have improved food service in school districts across the country.
Better Meal Prep and Visually Appealing Meals at Hawke County Schools in Rayford, North Carolina. “Thanks to the grant, we have had the opportunity to purchase new and updated equipment for the school kitchen. and high schools purchased thermal cabinets and refrigerators and placed them behind the serving lines that helped provide complex menu items.Increased participation in these schools is due to the fact that students eat longer meals. Because we don’t have to wait.One piece of equipment that has really helped our program over the past two years is the Blast Chiller, which can cool food quickly.The ultimate goal of Hawke County Schools is to provide every student with the highest quality menu and this facility allows us to achieve that goal,” said Deborah Carpenter, executive director of child nutrition for Hawke County Schools.
Scratch cooking is on the rise in the Iowa Grant School District in Livingston, Wisconsin, thanks to a new dishwasher. “We replaced our 63-year-old dishwasher with a new, more efficient one, which allows us to spend more time preparing food. The result is more scratch cooking in the kitchen. Now, you can make homemade granola for breakfast and cheesy broccoli soup for lunch, and new dishwashers continue to increase the amount of fresh meals you cook in your kitchen. It’s essential to ensure we have the time and dishwashing capacity we need to do this,” said Barbara Hagil, food service supervisor at Iowa Grant High School.
Boyne Falls Public School in Boyne Falls, Michigan uses a steamer to cook local produce. “We were able to use the funds to buy a new steamer for our kitchen. Children are delighted to see these kinds of vegetables, how fresh and lively they look.In addition, blanching the vegetables in a large, heavy pot of boiling water It’s a much easier and more efficient process because you don’t have to travel to the kitchen.This used to be a process that took up to an hour.Now I get better results in 10 minutes.After all, less effort. It needs to be prepared in large quantities with Nathan Bates, chef at Boyne Falls Public Schools.
These grants are just the latest in a series of efforts the Biden-Harris administration has taken to financially support school meals and ensure our nation’s children are nutritionally safe. Last month, the USDA launched the first phase of its $100 million healthy eating incentives initiative. Application requests are open to all non-governmental organizations until November 28, 2022. Later this year, FNS will announce the second and final phase of its initiative to expand nutritious food options for school lunches through collaboration with food industry partners.
The administration is also making broader investments in children’s nutrition. Last month, the USDA issued a final rule to improve children’s access to the USDA’s summer food service program through streamlined and enhanced program operations. USDA also approved nearly 33 million families with children to receive a Summer Children’s Food Benefit of $391 per child for the summer of 2022. Alaska, Hawaii, and US territories are more expensive. These summer benefits from her P-EBT program have helped the family cover food costs during the school holidays.
The announcement is part of the Biden Harris administration’s national strategy on hunger, nutrition and health. This national strategy provides a roadmap for federal action to end hunger and reduce diet-related illnesses by 2030, while reducing inequality. The national strategy was released on September 28, 2022, on the sidelines of President Biden’s first White House conference on hunger, nutrition and health in over 50 years.
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