School cafeterias have long held the reputation of being a free-for-all. Since COVID, Needham has taken that literally, offering free breakfast and lunch to all students regardless of need.
When the pandemic shuttered schools and wreaked havoc on food security for many families, the federal government supplemented funding for its National School Lunch Program to offer free meals. In June 2022, when that program reverted to a need-based system, Massachusetts picked up the additional cost and signed it into law the following summer. Now, Needham students can take advantage of two “complete meals” every day.
The benefits of offering universal free breakfast and lunch are many, said Needham Public Schools Director of Nutrition Services Emily Murphy. “It removes that stigma of categorizing people by their socio-economic status,” she said. “No matter where you come from or who your family is, every kid receives the same meals at school. Research shows that’s not what’s out there for children.”
The nutritional requirements for a complete meal come from the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Students are required to choose three items at each meal, one of which must be a fruit or vegetable to be considered a balanced plate. Choices include whole grains, protein, milk and fruits and vegetables. Students can also purchase a la carte options.
Murphy said this has a ripple effect on students being able to pay better attention in class, going to the nurse less, absenteeism and participation in after-school activities. “It’s positive for academics, mental health and for their athletics.”
She also said she values the “community sense” of the program. “When everybody is treated the same, it creates a much more equal and balanced community setting.”
In the first few years of the universal meals program, Murphy saw a significant increase in students eating breakfast and lunch at school. Participation has now plateaued, something she hopes to improve across the schools, especially for breakfast. She and her team have worked to improve menus, watching market trends and understanding what children at each level want to eat. They now bake whole grain muffins and breads in house and have generally increased in-house cooking, for example. “Years ago scratch cooking was maybe a vegetable side,” Murphy said. “Now we’re scratch cooking mains multiple times a week.”
Strengthening the changes and initiatives Nutrition Services has made over the past four years since Murphy has been in the role is her focus this year. With the increase in scratch cooking, the team has added more diverse and “ethnic” recipes to the menu. In an effort to be more sustainable, the schools now have reusable trays and a food recovery program, and the department has added more local vendors.
“Staff needs training to have all the skills possible and all the tools they need to execute these recipes,” said Murphy. “More deliveries means more people that you’re working with, more foods coming in that need processing. We’ve also had changes to our whole software program and systems. All of that needs continuous program support. We all need to make sure in the nutrition department that they are running smoothly.”
Each school has its own complexities for where and why participation may be lacking, but overall education and promotion of the program needs improvement, said Murphy. She plans to meet with students and parents to share information, run changes and ideas by them and get feedback, hoping these new lines of communication will help.
“If we’re purchasing a local whitefish from Boston Harbor, we want to make sure they know that fish is being sourced locally, is extremely fresh, [explain] all the nutritional benefits,” said Murphy. “As a parent, I’d love to know that my school’s nutrition department is doing these things.”
Note: Public service information about the school meal program is here.
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