Vermont School Breakfast Programs Continue to Lead the Country
January 14, 2011 (South Burlington, VT) Vermont schools continue to see record participation in the school breakfast program, compared to other states in the nation. More than 15,000 low-income children eat a free school breakfast on an average school day across the state, according to the School Breakfast Scorecard 2009-2010, an annual report issued by the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC). In 2009 Vermont saw a record 15.5% increase over the previous school year which moved Vermont from 9th to 3rd in the nation for participation. In 2010, Vermont saw a slight increase in breakfast participation and maintained its national participation ranking. This is likely the result of both increased need and a bill passed in 2008 by the Vermont State Legislature that allows all low-income students to access free school breakfast.
In November the USDA reported that 1 in 5 children in Vermont experience hunger. Vermont ’s school breakfast participation rates show that families are relying on this important nutrition safety net in tough economic times. “ Vermont ’s strong participation in school breakfast among low-income children reinforces that the school breakfast program is more important than ever – especially in this sluggish economic recovery,” says Marissa Parisi , Executive Director of Hunger Free Vermont. “School meals provide an ongoing source of good nutrition for Vermont ’s children and we will continue to encourage participation among eligible families,” says Parisi. Despite Vermont ’s relatively high breakfast participation rates, only 60% of low-income students that participate in free or reduced price lunch eat breakfast on an average day.
School meals are provided at 93% of public schools in Vermont . “We see hungry children every day, who rely on school breakfast,” says Kathy Alexander, Director of Addison Northeast Supervisory Union Food Service Cooperative and President of School Nutrition Association of Vermont . Alexander also notes, “Increased access to school breakfast for low-income children has made a big difference in school meal participation as well the overall health of the children served. Expanding this effort to include school lunch would have an even bigger impact.” Hunger Free Vermont would like to see the state build on the success of the 2008 breakfast expansion and is working with state legislators to provide free school lunch to all low-income children.
For more information on school meals visit http://www.hungerfreevt.org/school_meal.php
For more information call or email:
Marissa Parisi at 865-0255 or MParisi@HungerFreeVT.org
Executive Director of Hunger Free Vermont
