Nutrition & School Lunch

Conceptual school lunch on tray in blues and reds.
Concept by Liz Yap/Education Week (Images: iStock/Getty)
Student Well-Being Q&A Universal Free School Meals Might Improve Discipline Rates. Here's How
The way schools distribute free and reduced-price meals can cause stigma and increased disciplinary issues.
Arianna Prothero, January 31, 2024
4 min read
Bell Beverage owner Frank Bell, rear left, watches as employee Anthony Casalena loads chromebooks onto one of their trucks to deliver to district schools, at School District Headquarters in Philadelphia on April 6, 2020.
Bell Beverage owner Frank Bell, rear left, watches as employee Anthony Casalena loads Chromebooks onto one of their trucks to deliver to district schools at School District Headquarters in Philadelphia on April 6, 2020. Fewer districts are reporting difficulty securing laptops due to supply chain disruptions.
Jessica Griffin/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP
School & District Management Schools Can More Easily Get Food, Laptops as Supply Chain Problems Fade
Fewer schools report difficulty securing crucial goods because of global supply chain logjams.
Mark Lieberman, January 22, 2024
2 min read
Salina Sanchez gives free lunches to Damien Chavez, right, and Umar Kotroo at Wheel Park in Aurora, Colo., on June 6, 2019. The Aurora Public Schools takes free summer lunches to children on colorful, hand-painted school buses. The USDA's new Summer EBT program will help families cover the costs of meals during the summer months.
Salina Sanchez gives free lunches to Damien Chavez, right, and Umar Kotroo at Wheel Park in Aurora, Colo., on June 6, 2019. The Aurora Public Schools takes free summer lunches to children on colorful, hand-painted school buses. The new Summer EBT program from the U.S. Department of Agriculture will provide $120 per child in grocery benefits to families with children who qualify for free and reduced-price lunch during the school year. But 15 states aren't participating in the program's first year.
Philip B. Poston/The Aurora Sentinel via AP
Student Well-Being A New Federal Summer Food Program Targets Child Hunger. Why Are 15 States Opting Out?
Summer EBT could be a game changer for families facing food insecurity, childhood hunger experts say, but millions of kids won't benefit.
Libby Stanford, January 12, 2024
7 min read
School cook Renee Stanford, left, restocks food items in a heated display during lunch break at Tonalea K-8 school in Scottsdale, Ariz., on Dec. 12, 2022. Funding, labor and supply shortages have limited the school district's ability to cook and serve fresh food, making it more reliant on prepackaged, ready-to-eat items.
School cook Renee Stanford, left, restocks food items in a heated display during lunch break at Tonalea K-8 school in Scottsdale, Ariz., on Dec. 12, 2022.
Alberto Mariani/AP
School & District Management Why It's Getting More Expensive to Feed Kids at School
The School Nutrition Association's annual survey finds that rising food prices and staffing shortages are challenging school meal services.
Arianna Prothero, January 9, 2024
3 min read
Students eat lunch at Edward A. Reynolds West Side High School in New York on Dec. 10, 2019.
Students eat lunch at Edward A. Reynolds West Side High School in New York City on Dec. 10, 2019.
Seth Wenig/AP
Student Well-Being Free Meals for All Students Is Best Way to Combat Hunger, Report Concludes
Some students say the quality of free meals has declined over the past few years.
Alyson Klein, September 28, 2023
3 min read
Adult female teacher spends one-on-one time helping a Black female teenage student with her classwork.
E+
Student Achievement How These Districts Are Using $10,000 to Boost Student Learning
The pilot projects, begun with grants from the National Education Association, aim to curb absenteeism, supply food, and offer tutoring.
Madeline Will, September 25, 2023
7 min read
Students wrap up their lunch break at Lowell Elementary School in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Aug. 22, 2023. Several states are making school breakfasts and lunches permanently free to all students starting this academic year, regardless of family income, and congressional supporters of universal school meals have launched a fresh attempt to extend free meals for all kids nationwide.
Students wrap up their lunch break at Lowell Elementary School in Albuquerque, N.M., on Aug. 22, 2023. Several states are making school breakfasts and lunches permanently free to all students starting this academic year, regardless of family income, and congressional supporters of universal school meals have launched a fresh attempt to extend free meals for all kids nationwide.
Susan Montoya Bryan/AP
Student Well-Being What the Research Says Teachers Say Students Don’t Have Enough Time to Eat Lunch. Here’s How to Change That
The vast majority of teachers warn their students don’t have enough time to actually eat their food.
Sarah D. Sparks & Arianna Prothero, September 20, 2023
7 min read
Baltimore City School students find worms in the soil while exploring the woods and looking for decomposers during a scavenger hunt at Great Kids Farm and Forest Camp on Tuesday, July 25, 2023, in Catonsville, MD.
Baltimore City School students find worms in the soil while exploring the woods and looking for decomposers during a scavenger hunt at Great Kids Farm and Forest Camp on Tuesday, July 25, 2023, in Catonsville, MD.<br/>
Sam Mallon/Education Week
Student Well-Being Video Where These Urban Students Get To Learn About (and in) the Outdoors
This urban school district gives students the opportunity to learn in and about the outdoors at their district-owned farm.
Sam Mallon, September 5, 2023
4:17
Students at the Maurice J. Tobin K-8 School in Boston's Roxbury neighborhood eat lunch on Sept. 4, 2013.
Students at the Maurice J. Tobin K-8 School in Boston's Roxbury neighborhood eat lunch on Sept. 4, 2013.
Steven Senne/AP
States Massachusetts Joins Short List of States Providing Free School Meals to All
States are stepping in where federal COVID-relief aid dropped off.
Caitlyn Meisner, August 16, 2023
4 min read
Images shows a stylized artistic landscape with soothing colors.
Getty
Student Well-Being Opinion Kids Need to Eat More Fruits and Vegetables. Here's How to Make That Happen
There are a few easy ways to get kids to eat more fruits and vegetables. They'll thank you later.
Ralph Hertwig, August 16, 2023
1 min read
Students at Wayzata High School in Minnesota serve meals to their peers on June 6, 2023, as part of a program the school started that employs students to offset staffing shortages.
Students at Wayzata High School in Minnesota serve meals to their peers on June 6, 2023, as part of a program the school started that employs students to offset staffing shortages.
Courtesy of Tyler Shepard
Recruitment & Retention Q&A This High School Couldn't Fill Key Jobs, So It Turned to Students
Schools have struggled to fill key support staff jobs since reopening from pandemic shutdowns. This high school recruited its students.
Caitlynn Peetz, July 28, 2023
8 min read
Students eat lunch at Edward A. Reynolds West Side High School in New York on Dec. 10, 2019.
Students eat lunch at Edward A. Reynolds West Side High School in New York on Dec. 10, 2019. Schools struggled to procure food through a key federal program, resulting in last-minute menu substitutions or repeated menus, in the first school year in which virtually all schools had reopened following pandemic building closures.
Seth Wenig/AP
Student Well-Being Watchdog Finds Systemic Problems With Major School Meals Program
Schools that rely on a USDA program to supply food for lunches encountered order delays and cancellations and price fluctuations.
Libby Stanford, July 17, 2023
5 min read
Students eat lunch of homemade pizza and caesar salad at the Albert D. Lawton Intermediate School, in Essex Junction, Vt., on June 9, 2022.
Students eat lunch at Albert D. Lawton Intermediate School in Essex Junction, Vt., on June 9, 2022.
Lisa Rathke/AP
States Six States Have Made School Meals Free to All Students. Will More Follow?
The new state laws provide universal school meals permanently, affecting 8 million students.
Arianna Prothero, June 23, 2023
5 min read
Seventh graders sit together in the cafeteria during their lunch break at a public school on Feb. 10, 2023, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. A 2010 federal law that boosted nutrition standards for school meals may have helped curb obesity among America’s children, even teenagers who can buy their own snacks, according to a study published Monday, Feb. 13, 2023, in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.
Seventh graders sit together in the cafeteria during their lunch break at a public school on Feb. 10, 2023, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. Changes to the national school lunch program in the last decade<ins data-user-label="Matt Stone" data-time="06/16/2023 1:11:26 PM" data-user-id="00000185-c5a3-d6ff-a38d-d7a32f6d0001" data-target-id=""> that cracked down on sodium and fat content in school meals and required more fruits and vegetables</ins> could have reduced children’s likelihood of becoming overweight, according to a new research paper.
Wong Maye-E/AP
Student Well-Being Healthier School Lunches May Have Curbed Childhood Obesity, New Study Finds
Efforts to make school meals healthier—while uneven in their implementation from Obama to Trump to Biden—could be paying off.
Caitlynn Peetz, June 16, 2023
5 min read