Food Security Projects

Policy Updates for Existing Programs

One of the easier transitions schools can make to support food security for students is to evaluate how current policies for existing programs can be modified to increase access to food.

Policies for Review

Rules regarding taking food from breakfast/lunch: Allowing students to leave the dining area with foods that don’t require temperature control, from breakfast to lunch, is a straightforward way to allow children who may be food insecure to have food to consume after they have left school. Despite confusion at some sites, this practice is explicitly allowable by the USDA Food and Nutrition Service through policy memo SP 41-2014.¹

Rules regarding taking food from supper: Afterschool snack and meal programs reimbursed by the Child and Adult Care Food Program also allow students to “take one vegetable, fruit, or grain item off-site to eat later,” providing the item comes from their meal or an area with shared snacks.²

Communication forums: With this, schools and districts can also support food security by reviewing their websites and student handbooks to ensure they have comprehensive and up-to-date information regarding food accessibility during and after the school day.

Other considerations: Ensuring students have 25 minutes of seated time to eat, and positioning recess before lunch in elementary schools, as both policies contribute to increased food consumption and decreased plate waste.^3,⁴

Implementation Process

School districts or sites would revisit existing food policies, with a lens towards increasing food security. Where possible, updates can be made, and the changes can be communicated with staff, students, and families. Given that shared bins or tables are usually stocked with the food, they could be placed near an exit, making it easy for students to take an item or two on their way out of the cafeteria. In the morning, non-perishable breakfast items from the shared area could be brought to the front office and offered to students arriving after the bell.

Best Practices

Staff the shared area to ensure food being shared doesn’t require temperature control, is unopened, or is a whole fruit or vegetable
Communicate policy changes with students, staff, and parents
Use visual aids with simple language in food service areas to encourage the desired behavior
Ensure that information about the new policy is accessible to all stakeholders

Participating Schools

Resources

USDA

SP 41-2014 - Clarification of the Policy on Food Consumption Outside of Foodservice Area

USDA

CACFP-10-2017 - Taking Food Components Off-site in the At-risk Afterschool Meals Program

CDE

Food Consumption Outside the Foodservice Area

Lancaster School District

Student Handbook 2023-2024 (Food Service Program)

Citations

1. SP 41-2014: Clarification of the policy on food consumption outside of the food service area, and the whole grain-rich requirement. 2014.

2. Taking food components off-site in the at-risk afterschool meals program. 2017.

3. Cohen, Juliana F.W., ScD, ScM, Jahn JL, Richardson S, MBA, Cluggish SA, MBA, Parker, Ellen, MBA, MSW, Rimm EB, ScD. Amount of time to eat lunch is associated with children’s selection and consumption of school meal entrée, fruits, vegetables, and milk. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. 2016;116(1):123-128. https://www.clinicalkey.es/playcontent/1-s2.0-S2212267215012484.doi:10.1016/j.jand.2015.07.019. doi: 10.1016/j.jand.2015.07.019.

4. GETLINGER MJ, LAUGHLIN CVT, BELL E, AKRE C, ARJMANDI BH. Food waste is reduced when elementary-school children have recess before lunch. Journal of the American Dietetic Association. 1996;96(9):906-908. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0002-8223(96)00245-3. doi: 10.1016/S0002-8223(96)00245-3.