Students in Lebanon School District in Lebanon, Pennsylvania don’t need a map to find their way to a healthy, delicious meal. They can just visit their school cafeteria to find local produce and scratch ingredients being used in their nutritious school meals.

 

During National School Lunch Week, USDA’s Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services Deputy Under Secretary Cindy Long, and Action for Healthy Kids Executive Officer/President Rob Bisceglie made a special visit to one of the district’s elementary schools, Northwest Elementary School. They toured the kitchen facilities and interacted with students during lunch. The visit coincided with the district’s celebration of National School Lunch Week and National Farm to School Month.

 

Lebanon School District previously received the Breakfast Trailblazer Award for their efforts to reduce added sugars in school meals. In addition to only serving unflavored milk, the district reduced the number of grain-based desserts on the menu in favor of more protein-rich breakfast entrees, including Egg and Cheese on a Whole Grain Biscuit, Breakfast Chicken Patty on a Whole Grain Biscuit, and Breakfast Casserole.

The Breakfast Trailblazer Award is one of eight Healthy Meals Incentives (HMI) Recognition Awards available through USDA and Action for Healthy Kids in partnership with Chef Ann Foundation and RMC Health. The HMI Recognition Awards recognize and celebrate School Food Authorities (SFAs) who have made operational changes to improve the nutritional quality of their school meals, as well as SFAs who engage students and families in nutrition education and in the planning and preparation of nutritious school meals.

The school was featured in two local news articles.