On October 14, FoodCorps was joined by many of our nonprofit partners, school nutrition directors, educators, and others for a Twitter chat celebrating National School Lunch Week and the recent release of our newest report, Nourishing Learners.
This year’s National School Lunch Week comes at a pivotal time for school nutrition leaders, as nationwide supply chain challenges — on top of the ongoing pandemic — are making it more difficult than ever to source and serve nourishing school meals.
A1: School districts need the flexibility to meet families where they are — in San Francisco, walk-up sites. In Houston, drive-thru. In Chicago, delivery. School districts all over have designed innovative models to nourish students! #LunchChat https://t.co/kswAWyglos
— Center for Ecoliteracy (@Ecoliteracy) October 14, 2021
But school nutrition leaders are innovating, collaborating, and coming up with creative solutions to these problems, in many cases moving mountains to keep kids fed. During the Twitter chat, we heard from participants about local procurement, greater collaborations across schools, and other ways that school nutrition teams are overcoming the current crisis.
A5.1: When faced with supply chain challenges, schools have developed menus that can be made with shelf-stable ingredients or minimize silverware. One school food supervisor got milk for her district in a refrigerated truck when the dairy couldn’t deliver it to her. #LunchChat https://t.co/IEWtzzQNVL
— Laurie M Tisch Center for Food, Education & Policy (@tischfoodcenter) October 14, 2021
A5. Schools launched creative solutions like curbside meal pick-up, pop-up sites for meal delivery by bus, grab and go stations, extra fruit and vegetable pick-up, and more. We featured a few school success stories here: https://t.co/3zyi0zwY4O #LunchChat #NSLW21 https://t.co/2yktzofxSE
— CSPI (@CSPI) October 14, 2021
Participants also uplifted universal school meals as a solution to many of the challenges with school nutrition, like low participation rates and the stigma associated with receiving free or reduced school meals.
A5: We have seen amazing school cafeteria staff and nutrition directors across the country work tirelessly to adapt programs, overcome hardship, and make sure children are served healthy meals. Here are a few examples: https://t.co/ZYMOq4112l #LunchChat #NSLW21 https://t.co/MR913U0sdk
— No Kid Hungry (@nokidhungry) October 14, 2021
A5. Schools launched creative solutions like curbside meal pick-up, pop-up sites for meal delivery by bus, grab and go stations, extra fruit and vegetable pick-up, and more. We featured a few school success stories here: https://t.co/3zyi0zwY4O #LunchChat #NSLW21 https://t.co/2yktzofxSE
— CSPI (@CSPI) October 14, 2021
They also shared lots of appreciation for school nutrition teams, who are powering through one hurdle after another to continue prioritizing students’ health, happiness, and connection to school meals.
A3: Our school district is discussing building a greenhouse to educate students on where food comes from (*hint* NOT a Walmart!!), using cafeteria compost to empower kids to grow their own food to harvest and eat for lunch. All while kids eating healthier. #LunchChat https://t.co/nk7OQQ1UlB
— Angie Rupchock-Schafer (@AngRSchafer) October 14, 2021
A1: Just as it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a village to feed a child. Nourshing students during school closures looks like key stakeholders in the school community coming together to meet food production needs. #LunchChat
— Shannon Newerth-Henson (@Shannon_Newerth) October 14, 2021
A2. The whole world is short staffed- be kind to those who show up! #LunchChat pic.twitter.com/9dlAeeH8rQ
— Adam Russo (@theadamrusso) October 14, 2021
Thank you to all who joined this Twitter chat!
