Abstract

Providing School Meals to All Students Free of Cost: Challenges and Benefits Reported by School District Foodservice Professionals to Inform California’s Policy Implementation

Wendi Gosliner¹, Monica Zuercher¹, Juliana Cohen², Christina Hecht¹, Michele Polacsek³, Kenneth Hecht¹, Lindsey Turner⁴, Marlene Schwartz⁵, Anisha Patel⁶, Lorrene Ritchie¹ (1)Nutrition Policy Institute, (2)Merrimack College, (3)University of New England, (4)Boise State University, (5)University of Connecticut, (6)Stanford University

APHA 2022 Annual Meeting and Expo

Introduction: California’s school meals for all students (SMFA) – the first of only two states to enact such policy – has the potential to improve nutrition security for millions of K-12 students. Evaluation is imperative to ensure the state’s SMFA policy is implemented optimally and informs policy debates more broadly.
Approach: All California foodservice directors (FSDs) were invited to complete a survey about opportunities and challenges experienced during the federally-funded SMFA in response to COVID-19 (SYs2020-22), and anticipating implementation of California’s SMFA policy (SY2022-23). Structured interviews were conducted within a subsample of FSDs and analyzed to enrich descriptive survey findings using an immersion and crystallization approach.
Results: The survey response rate was 53% (n=592); 30 FSDs were interviewed. Pandemic and supply-chain challenges were common, including procurement of types (reported by 89%) and amounts (86%) of foods and non-food supplies/equipment (83%). Most reported staffing challenges (77%) and concerns about financial sustainability of foodservice (81%). Impacts attributed to pandemic SMFA implementation included greater student meal participation (79%), less unpaid meal charges (66%), and less student stigma (45%). FSDs reported increases in meal packaging/solid (68%) and food (57%) waste. Concerns in planning to implement SMFA in SY2022-23 were staffing (69%), product/ingredient availability (62%), adequacy of foodservice facility/storage space (57%), and financial sustainability (57%). Quotes from interviews will be presented.
Discussion: FSDs reported many benefits and challenges of the SMFA. Identifying the most promising practices for feeding all students while managing labor, supply chain, and waste issues will be critical to successful SMFA implementation.

Abstract

Healthy eating in K-12 schools: themes and indicators for assessing community capacity and readiness

Callie Ogland-Hand, BA¹, Jillian Schulte, MA¹, Lindsay Osborn, MPH¹, Owusua Yamoah, PhD¹, Milen Embaye, MPH¹, Brinda Athreya, PhD¹, Ana Claudia Zubieta, PhD², Pat Bebo, MS², Darcy Freedman, PhD, MPH¹ (1)Case Western Reserve University, Mary Ann Swetland Center for Environmental Health, (2)Ohio SNAP-Ed, College of Food and Environmental Sciences & Education and Human Ecology, OSU Extension and Human Sciences

APHA 2022 Annual Meeting and Expo

Background: An estimated one in five children have obesity. As rates of pediatric obesity increase, it is important to expand intervention efforts. Given the nutrition intake in schools and the time children spend there, K-12 settings are ideal for policy, system, and environment (PSE) interventions. The goal of this study was to (1) identify themes essential to healthy eating PSE interventions within K-12 settings and (2) assess indicators of readiness and capacity within the established themes.

Methods: Community nutrition practitioners (n=12) and community residents (n=26) from nine counties in Ohio participated in semi-structured interviews between December 2020 and May 2021. Qualitative thematic analysis was conducted to identify themes related to implementing healthy eating PSEs in schools, which were then operationalized into indicators. Themes and indicators were sorted and ranked by school-based experts (n=10) based on their perceived priority for PSE implementation during a virtual consensus conference.

Results: Four themes and 24 indicators were identified. Expert-derived weights quantified the themes’ importance to implementation efforts. Themes and associated weights included: (1) school system support and capacity [0.372]; (2) school food environment [0.278]; (3) community nutrition practitioner capacity and resources [0.192]; and (4) familial influence and awareness [0.158].

Discussion: Findings provide guidance for tailoring healthy eating PSEs in K-12 schools based on local levels of readiness and capacity. There is a need for tools that allow for real-time assessments of these factors to inform local decision making and actions related to PSE implementation in schools.

Abstract

Healthy School Meals for All: Ensuring Every Student is Nourished at School

Abby Halperin Center for Ecoliteracy

APHA 2022 Annual Meeting and Expo

The Six-Ingredient Recipe for Universal School Meals: Lessons from California

In 2021, California became the first state in the country to pass legislation to provide universal school meals for six million public school students. Ensuring students have consistent access to healthy meals is a critical strategy for alleviating hunger, food insecurity, and poverty across the state. Universal school meals in California is especially important because almost 60% of public school students qualify for free or reduced-price meals under the federal guidelines. Beginning in the 2022-23 school year, California public schools will receive $650 million in ongoing funds to permanently provide free breakfast and lunch to all students; another $150 million for staff training and kitchen upgrades to support freshly prepared meals; plus $30 million for farm to school for the next two years, providing a pipeline of fresh, local, and nutritious foods. This huge win was accomplished by the School Meals for All Coalition which included labor, agriculture, health, food banks, and nonprofit organizations, as well as school districts from the Center for Ecoliteracy’s California Food for California Kids® Network. Together, the coalition advocated for School Meals for All as an essential investment in the health of California’s children.

To guide advocates and policymakers in providing free, healthy school meals for all students, no matter where they live, we will share the six ingredients for the success of this historic campaign. (1) Build critical partnerships with legislators and co-sponsors to bring diverse stakeholders together. (2) Coordinate your approach to benefit various school food stakeholders and address challenges school districts face. (3) Seize the moment. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted how essential school meals are to alleviating child hunger and the USDA waivers demonstrated that universal school meals were possible. (4) Include insights and advocacy from those on the ground. Through relationships with 100 school districts in our California Food for California Kids Network, we learned that the top policy priority for school nutrition directors was universal school meals. We then connected school nutrition directors with policymakers via hearings, press, and social media. (5) Harness the power of research and data to tell personalized, relevant stories to policymakers. (6) Know your audience and communicate often. We tailored our communications and used simple, easily understood facts for general audiences and deeper data and research for policymakers.

Abstract

Presence of School Kitchens and the Nutritional Quality of Foods Offered in Public K-12 Schools

Katie DiSantis¹, Punam Ohri-Vachaspati, PhD, RD², Michael Yedidia, PhD, MPH³, Francesco Acciai, PhD, MS², Sarah Martinelli, MS, RD, SNS² (1)Thomas Jefferson University, (2)Arizona State University, (3)Rutgers University

APHA 2022 Annual Meeting and Expo

Background: School kitchen facilities have been a target in efforts to improve the nutritional quality of school meals. Yet, there is a dearth of research on the association between kitchens and the healthfulness of foods offered in schools.
Objective: The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the relationship of full-sevice kitchen facilities and nutritional quality of foods offered in schools over an 8-year period.
Methods: Public schools (K-12) in four school districts in New Jersey provided detailed data as a part of the New Jersey Child Health Study (NJCHS) from school year (SY) 2010-11 through SY 2017-18 (n = 148). Data collected included the presence of a full-service kitchen (refrigerator, oven, stove) and availability of healthy and unhealthy foods and beverages offered through the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) as well as a la carte, which were used to create four indices. The indices indicated the number of healthy and unhealthy items, respectively, for both NSLP and a la carte. Multivariable analysis examined the association between kitchen presence and the school food indices over time after adjusting for covariates.
Results: Schools with full-service kitchens offered more healthy items in NSLP lunches, relative to those without major appliances, in all years (p < .05) except for 2016-17 and 2017-18. The linear trends between schools with and without kitchens did not vary for both healthy and unhealthy foods offered a la carte, and for unhealthy NSLP items.
Conclusions: These findings support policies that aim to improve the amount of healthy NSLP offerings by supporting full-service kitchens.