Schools Observe National School Lunch Week

Children’s health and nutrition in the U.S. is in a state of crisis that affects our nation’s educational success, job readiness, global competitiveness, and the surging cost of healthcare. School nutrition is one of the pillars of a green school. Earth Day Network believes all students should have access to green, healthy schools. Children spend two-thirds of their waking hours in schools. Schools also provide 50% of kids’ meals. They offer the best opportunity to improve children’s health and educate them on how to make better meal choices at home. Recognizing this, Congress and the President established National School Lunch Week (NSLW). However, the opportunity to substantively implement National School Lunch programming during that week and beyond has gone untapped.

In honor of NSLW, the School Nutrition Association has created resources for teaching about nutrition and health as well as a toolkit that includes handouts and activities for students.