EYOTA, Minn. (KTTC) Studies show children learn better when they have full stomachs, and a new effort is underway to make sure they continue to get healthy and free lunches, even after the pandemic.
The dawn of the COVID-19 pandemic brought widespread distance learning for students across the country. For some children, their only meal of the day came from school. With so many children at home, there was a fear some would go hungry.
School nutrition leaders mobilized and transformed the way school meals are administered, offering pre-packaged curbside meals for breakfast, lunch and sometimes, dinner.
The school meals were free because the USDA expanded its National School Lunch and School Breakfast Program. The program was founded in 1946, with the goal of helping schools give free meals to undeprivelaged families.