Help Your Child Celebrate National School Lunch Week!

October 15 marks the start of a week-long celebration of the national school lunch program. The National School Lunch Program, which serves over 30 million lunches to school-aged children every day, ensures that students receive a nutritious meal. School lunches offer fruits, vegetables, whole-grains, lean proteins and low-fat dairy for students to enjoy!

National School Lunch week is held every year during the second week in October. The theme for this year is School Lunch: Lots to Love. he goal is for students, parents, teachers, and cafeteria staff to share stories about what they love most about school lunches. Here are some ways your family can share the love for school meals:

• Read over the cafeteria menu with your student and talk about what tasty items will be served for lunch each day. Help your child plan to select at least one fruit or vegetable for each day. Be sure to ask them how they liked the foods they tried!
• Write thank you notes to cafeteria staff. Words of thanks and encouragement from you and your student will mean a lot to your school’s food service staff!
• Call your school to find out if any special events are happening to celebrate National School Lunch week. Ask if you can eat lunch in the cafeteria with your student!
• Find out if volunteers are needed in the cafeteria. Parents may be able to serve as monitors. Monitors can play an important role in encouraging kids to select and eat healthy foods.
• If your child usually brings a lunch from home, have them choose one or two days to purchase from the cafeteria during this week!
• Share the love for school meals on social media using the hashtags #NSLW18, #lotstolove, #schoollunch.