School Nutrition
Guidance, policy updates and actionable resources for schools & districts focused on nutritional standards and access to school meals.
Background
AASA strongly supports the enactment of comprehensive services and programs that encourage children to be healthy. Research demonstrates that learning is enhanced when children feel safe and have their physical, mental and social and emotional needs met in a healthy school environment. This includes access to healthy foods. In some districts, public schools are the lifeline for children to have access to substantial and healthy meals that they may be lacking at home. Through the COVID-19 pandemic and the USDA authorization of Universal School Meals, we were able to see what student success looks like without hunger hindering a student's ability to learn.
What did we observe through access to healthy school meals during the COVID-19 pandemic?
- Reduction in school lunch debt shaming
- Districts ability to afford quality ingredients for scratch cooking
- Alleviated administrative burden on processing Free and Reduced Price Meal (FRPM) applications
- Increase in overall student happiness
AASA's Position & Priorities
The guiding principles for federal education policy stem from equity and the important role the federal government stands to play in creating equitable learning opportunities for all students. AASA is committed to advocating for better access to school meals and reasonable nutrition standards for students in the public school system.
AASA's priorities are to:
- Ensure that licensing and certification requirements for school nutrition workers are a state responsibility
- Support universal school meals on the contingency that such policies do no harm to eligibility for and enrollment in existing federal funding streams serving schools, and fully cover costs associated with the program
- Refrain from increasing the administrative burden related to nutrition eligibility verification
As schools and students face uncertainty in the wake of the pandemic, one area that continues to shine brightly is the critical work school systems are doing...to help keep students fed even while schools were closed.
Dan Domenech, AASA Executive Director
Issue Updates
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December 22, 2022
Congress Nears Final FY23 Appropriations PackageFederal fiscal year 2023 started on October 1, runs through September 30, 2023, and includes federal dollars that will be in your schools for the 23-24 school year.
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November 29, 2022
AASA Urges Inclusion of Child Nutrition Provisions in FY23 Spending BillToday, AASA sent a letter to Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Ranking Member John Boozman (R-AR) urging them to include critical child nutrition provisions in the FY23 appropriations package.
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November 15, 2022
USDA Launches $50 Million Grant Program For Schools & Food Industry to Work Together to Strengthen School MealsLast week, USDA launched a $50 million grant opportunity to support collaboration with the food industry to develop nutritious, appetizing school meals for students.
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July 14, 2022
Healthy Meals, Healthy Kids ActOn July 20, 2022, Democrats on the House Education and Labor Committee released the Healthy Meals, Healthy Kids Act—their proposal for the Child Nutrition Reauthorization.
AASA Resources
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August 09, 2022
Mental Health and School FoodType:Webinar Recording The Link Between Hunger and Student Well-Being -
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March 30, 2021
AASA Quarterly Federal Policy Update - SpringType:Webinar Recording Topics: Advocacy & PolicyAASA’s Director of Advocacy, Sasha Pudelski, will walk AASA members through the latest funding and policy changes -
May 13, 2021
Child Nutrition Reauthorization PrioritiesType:Report Topics: Advocacy & Policy Health & WellnessAASA’s Advocacy Team has created a new resource for Congressional stakeholders working to reauthorize the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act. -
May 13, 2021
Child Nutrition Reauthorization Priorities: Voices from the FieldType:Report Topics: Advocacy & Policy Health & WellnessAASA’s Advocacy Team has created a new resource for Congressional stakeholders working to reauthorize the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act.
Get Involved
Put a call to action here so members can get involved in the cause and become champions of our advocacy issues.
It can be as simple as sharing a social media graphic or as complex as using a templated letter to call or email their state legislators.
Link to the Legislative Action Center
Additional Resources
U.S. Department of Education Resources
- Public school students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch
- Back to School 2022-2023: HOW TO PRIORITIZE THE HEALTH AND SAFETY OF STUDENTS, SCHOOL PERSONNEL, AND FAMILIES
- Free or Reduced-Price Lunch vs. Direct Certification: Understanding School Lunch Eligibility in the Common Core of Data
- Nutrition Standards for School Meals (Source: USDA)
Resources to Support School Nutrition
- Measuring Student Poverty (Source: Urban Alliance)
- Model Estimates of Poverty in Schools (Source: Urban Alliance)
- Toward a Better Measure (Source: Data Quality Campaign)
- Is Free and Reduced-Price Lunch a Valid Measure of Educational Disadvantage? (Source: Domina, Pharris-Ciuriej, and Sanabria. [2018]. Educational Researcher.)
- Food Insufficiency During COVID-19 (Source: Food & Research Action Center [FRAC])
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