School Breakfast Program
What Is the School Breakfast Program?
A nutritious breakfast is the best way to start a day of learning. The School Breakfast Program is a federally funded program that helps participating schools provide breakfast to all students.
How Does It Work?
The federal government provides monetary assistance to states to operate nonprofit breakfast programs in schools. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) administers the School Breakfast Program at the federal level. The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services administers the School Breakfast Program at the state level, and local school food authorities operate the program in schools.
In Florida, each district school board must operate the School Breakfast Program in all elementary schools. School breakfast programs must be operated at no cost to the students in schools where 80 percent or more of the students enrolled are eligible for free or reduced-price meals.
School Breakfast Changes
Changes to the School Breakfast Program's meal pattern, set by the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, took place gradually beginning in School Year 2013-2014. More whole grains are now offered; meals supply appropriate calories for grades K-5, 6-8 and 9-12; and the sodium content of meals has been gradually reduced. More fruit is also now offered.
All school breakfasts must meet federal meal requirements, but decisions about which specific foods to serve and how they are prepared are made by the local school food authorities.
Increasing Participation in School Breakfast
Advocates of school breakfast have come together to create a Florida School Breakfast Expansion Campaign to assist schools in increasing participation in their program. View A Good Start to Learning: A Guide to Expanding School Breakfast Participation in Florida or visit FloridaSchoolBreakfast.org for research, tools and more information.
Learn about the Florida Breakfast Challenge, a new competition that rewards schools for increasing the number of breakfasts served.
