Healthy Meals Initiatives

For many children, the School Breakfast and Summer Food Service Programs provide critical meals that they might otherwise go without. Both programs adhere to nutrition guidelines set forth by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Yet, because these guidelines are so broad, Project Bread has developed additional guidelines that are above and beyond those set by the USDA. We have also worked to create access to the freshest produce available by encouraging food service directors and summer meal providors to purchase locally grown vegetables and fruits. Communities interested in participating in any of the following initiatives should contact us at 617-723-5000 or cnop@projectbread.org.

Better Breakfast Initiative

The Better Breakfast Initiative aims to improve the nutritional content of school breakfast by offering students an all-new breakfast menu based on guidelines developed in consultation with the Nutrition Department at the Harvard School of Public Health. The new breakfast menus feature low-sugar cereals, skim or 1% milk, and fresh fruit options such as fruit smoothies, fruit salad, and assorted whole fruit. Participating communities include Brockton, Fitchburg, Lawrence, Southbridge, Orange, Revere, and Chicopee.

For more information about the Better Breakfast Initiative, click here.

Better Summer Meals Initiative

This summer, several communities are participating in Project Bread’s Better Summer Meals Initiative in order to improve the nutritional content of summer meals and help combat the childhood obesity epidemic. The Better Summer Meals nutritional guidelines for breakfast, lunch, and snack are above and beyond the current USDA guidelines for the Summer Food Service Program and require the following:

• No hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils (trans fats).
• Skim or 1% milk only. Limit flavored milk to 2 times per week or fewer. Use low fat cheeses whenever possible.
• Use whole grain bread and bread products whenever possible.
• Limit cookies, pies, cakes, chips, brownies, donuts, croissants, pastries, ice cream/frozen desserts or other similar items to one time per week or fewer.
• Include 2 fresh or frozen fruit and/or vegetable offerings for lunch and 1 for breakfast/snack. Canned fruit is acceptable as long as it is in juice, not syrup. Fruit or vegetable juice is not an acceptable substitute (even if it is 100% juice).
• Breakfast cereal may contain no more than 5 grams of sugar unless it provides 3 or more grams of fiber.
• No donuts, breakfast pastries, or toaster pastries may be served during breakfast.

Why is Project Bread involved?

Research demonstrates that food insecure families face a heightened risk of obesity than those whose families have greater access to adequate food. One of the reasons for this seeming contradiction is the fact that fresh fruits and vegetables are more expensive than calorie dense, processed foods. The Locally Grown Foods Project creates access to fresh, high quality fruits and vegetables at SFSP sites and schools in targeted communities.

For many farmers and summer meal providers, entering into a new purchasing relationship can be somewhat nerve wracking. That is why Project Bread has partnered with the Massachusetts Farm to School Project to simplify the process as much as possible.

How does it work?

Project Bread works with the Massachusetts Farm to School Project, headed by Kelly Erwin, to connect summer meal providers with local farmers. Project Bread then provides seed money for one summer only to cover the cost of produce delivery or equipment for food preparation. Though the amount of the grant varies depending on each community’s needs, this start up money has successfully enabled participants to become self-sustaining in subsequent years. Many of the food service directors who participate during the summer have continued to purchase seasonal produce during the school year.

Participating communities include Barnstable, Chicopee, Gloucester, Greenfield, Lawrence, Lowell, Orange, Pittsfield, Plymouth, Westfield, and Ware.