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FRANKFORT, Ky. — Thousands of Kentucky children get hot, nutritious meals from the National School Lunch Program in schools across the Commonwealth. National School Lunch Week, which continues through Oct. 14, commemorates the U.S. Department of Agriculture program.
The Kentucky Department of Agriculture’s Division of Food Distribution administers the federal program in 245 school systems in Kentucky. Approximately 400,000 lunches per day – 82 million meals per year – are served to Kentucky children each school day at public and nonprofit private schools and residential child care institutions. About 26 million children nationwide participate in the program each weekday – well over the total number of people served daily by the nation’s largest fast-food chain.
“Children who get meals that are good and good for them do better in school and in life,” Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer said. “The National School Lunch Program is a great investment in our future.”
The program was established by President Harry Truman in 1946 to provide nutritious, U.S.-grown food for schoolchildren and to remove excess foods from commodities markets.
Kentucky received more than $18 million in food during 2004. That included more than $3 million in bonus commodities, which are purchased by USDA to stabilize the market for particular commodities. Total food purchased for Kentucky this year decreased by more than 2 million pounds, while its value increased by more than $200,000.
Teresa Ulery, director of the KDA’s Division of Food Distribution, said one of the Department’s goals is to resume its partnership with the USDA’s Small Farms/School Meals Initiative. Commonly known as the farm-to-school program, it allowed schools to purchase fresh produce directly from Kentucky farmers and co-ops between 2000-2003. To better coordinate with Kentucky’s growing season, the KDA wants to use the farm-to-school program in conjunction with the USDA’s Summer Food Service Program, which allocates approximately $50,000 to the KDA to feed children when school is not in session during the summer.
Ulery pointed out that the KDA participates in the USDA’s Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, in which schools can purchase fresh produce through the Department of Defense. Started as a pilot project in Kentucky in 2000, the program currently uses more than $1.6 million in USDA funds to purchase fresh produce for children in 45 Kentucky school systems.
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