Blogs

October is Farm to School Month! The USDA Farm to School Program helps schools incorporate local foods into meal programs and supports local food and agriculture education through grants, research, and technical assistance. Less plate waste may be a benefit for schools implementing farm to school.

On August 14-19, a leadership team traveled to Guam and the Commonwealth of Northern Marianna Islands to meet with the territories’ leadership, superintendents and commissioners, that administer USDA food assistance programs. They discussed the challenges of transitioning back to pre-pandemic operations, how USDA could assist, and lessons learned.

Here’s what FNS staff had to say about the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health and what lies ahead.

Today kicks off the second, historic White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health. It’s been more than 50 years since the last conference, which produced impactful, meaningful changes to improve USDA nutrition assistance programs, including SNAP, WIC and school meals. The conference will work towards ending hunger and reducing diet-related diseases and disparities in the U.S. by 2030.

Over the last two years, we’ve experienced major disruptions in the world of school meals – new realities stemming from pandemic-related school closures and supply chain disruptions which have impacted the cost and availability of food, staff, and supplies. Through it all, our dedicated school nutrition professionals have demonstrated a tireless commitment to ensuring kids remain fed and nourished.

The White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health will be on September 28th – the first of its kind in over 50 years. The conference will focus on nutrition security, which means maintaining consistent and equitable access to healthy, safe and affordable food.

The food nutrition experts at the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands enticed their school children to eat more fruit by serving fruit smoothies.