Created in 1962 by President John F. Kennedy, National School Lunch Week celebrates the benefits of the National School Lunch Program (the largest federal child nutrition program). The theme for the week of October 10-14, 2011 is "School Lunch – Let's Grow Healthy." See the School Nutrition Association website.

Download these resources for free:

• National School Lunch Week activities and brochures
• Toolkit and Resources for National School Lunch Week (PDF, 9pp)

National School Lunch Program (NSLP)

The NSLP is a federally assisted meal program that provides nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunches to children each school day. The program was established under the National School Lunch Act, signed by President Harry Truman in 1946. Learn more at the U.S. Department of Agriculture website.

National Farm to School Month

October 2011 is also the first National Farm to School Month, which connects schools and local farms with the objectives of serving healthy meals in school cafeterias, improving student nutrition, providing agriculture, health and nutrition education opportunities, and supporting local and regional farmers. See the Farm to School website for resources, lesson plans, and steps to get started.

Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act

The provisions of the Healthy and Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, a reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act, include $4.5 billion in new funding for federal school meal and child nutrition programs, increased access to healthy food, and promoting overall student wellness. Read more at Child Nutrition.

School Resources

• Healthy School Lunches
  This website offers a project plan that can help children develop healthful eating patterns and prevent diet-related illness and a publication called Vegetarian Options for School Lunch Programs (2008) (PDF, 12pp).
• Healthy Steps for Healthy Lives
  This website provides K-3 educators with 31 lessons to teach fundamental nutrition and physical activity concepts. From Nestlé and NEA Health Information Network.
• Getting Started - A Guide for Creating School Gardens as Outdoor Classrooms (2007) (PDF, 52pp)
  This guide offers ideas for creating a school garden (in any climate) to provide opportunities for students to explore science, nutrition, social studies, math, art, language arts, and more.
• PBS's Lesson Plan Evaluating Information on Food Labels
  This site offers food-based lesson plans that use the film Food, Inc., a documentary that examines food in the United States and the industry and POV's website resources for it. You can borrow the film for free - when you join the Community Network.

Related NEA Articles

Healthy and Hunger-Free Kids Act

• Landmark School Meal Law Taps Food Service Workers (Perez, 2010)
  The bipartisan Healthy and Hunger-Free Kids Act expands by 115,000 each year the number of children enrolled in the school meals program.
• Pizza for Breakfast No More (Long, 2010)
  New legislation would allow schools to provide healthier fare for students.
• Education Support Professionals Learn New Ways to Boost Kids’ Nutrition (Long, 2010) 
  Her schools are making the switch to low-fat milk and cheese; offering more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains; and cutting back on sodium, fats, and cholesterol. 

School Lunch

• From Chicken Wings to the West Wing (Barnett, 2011)
  One school’s culinary program mixes good food and fun.
• Quality of School Lunches Questioned (Buffenbarger, 2011)
  The meat being provided to our nation's students in their lunches may not meet requirements by the fast-food industry, according to a recent investigation.
• Let's Move! Campaign Celebrates a Year of Healthier School Lunches (Long, 2011)
  One year after First Lady Michelle Obama urged schools to serve healthier meals as part of her Let’s Move! Campaign to fight childhood obesity, and school lunches are already looking a whole lot leaner.
• Sizing Up the Obesity Crisis (Long, 2010)
  By nurturing healthy habits, public school educators are tipping the scales in kids' favor.
• Fixing Lunch Part 1 and Fixing Lunch Part 2 (Arnold, 2008)
  School custodian talks about students denied a school meal. 
• Don't Fry the Cook (Arnold, 2008)
  Food service employees provide healthy meals.

Other Articles, Fact Sheets, and Websites

• Food Research and Action Center (FRAC)
  FRAC is the leading national nonprofit organization working to improve public policies and public-private partnerships to eradicate hunger and undernutrition in the United States. Get the facts about the free or reduced-price meals at school.
• Child Nutrition Fact Sheet
  What is the National School Lunch Program and why is it important?
• Let's Move
  Let’s Move! offers parents and caregivers the tools, support and information they need to make healthier choices while instilling healthy eating habits in children that will last a lifetime.
• Project Graduation: Latest Snapshot of High-Poverty U.S. Schools
  Using as its poverty measure, the percentage of students who are eligible for the National School Lunch Program's free or reduced-price lunch, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reports that nearly one-fifth of all public schools in the United States educate students from high-poverty homes (The Condition of Education 2010).
• School Meals: A Nutritional and Environmental Perspective (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010) (PDF, 8pp)
  This article excerpt analyzes current school meals in Baltimore and makes suggestions for school meal reform based on both childhood nutrition and environmental resource use.