The Travis Unified School District offers a full district-prepared Child Nutrition Program.
It includes the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program and/or Afterschool Snack Program.
“Breakfasts and lunches will be served free of charge every school day, but Travis Unified School District is still required to make eligibility determinations for free and reduced-price meals,” the district stated.
Source: Learn about Travis Unified Nutrition Program | News | dailyrepublic.com
By Richard Bammer
Travis Unified leaders will hear plans and updates for the Child Nutrition department when they meet Tuesday in Fairfield.
Ana Martinez, the Child Nutrition and warehouse manager, and Richard Pereira, the Sodexo consultant/chef, will present the department’s updates and plans. The agenda document did not specify what those updates and plans were, however.
Source: TUSD trustees to hear updates, plans for Child Nutrition department – The Vacaville Reporter
By Amy Maginnis-Honey
A dedicated group of volunteers, the only ones in the state and west of Illinois, meet weekly to ensure school children have food over the weekend.
The Vacaville/Fairfield chapter of End 68 Hours of Hunger, named after the amount of time school children wait between the free lunch at school on Friday afternoon and the free breakfast on Monday morning, operates in both towns.
It’s also one of the largest of the 40 nationwide chapters. That statistic is evidence of the critical need in Solano County, said Kathy Grogan, a supply team leader in Fairfield.
Source: End 68 Hours of Hunger: Feed the children – on weekends, too | News | dailyrepublic.com
By Richard Bammer
A glance inside the small food closet at Vacaville’s Community Presbyterian Church told much of the story.
Shelves and boxes are stacked or packed with cans of beef stew, spaghetti and meatballs, Pad Thai noodle soup, chili, tomato soup, granola bars, macaroni and cheese, tuna, crackers, packets of instant oatmeal — food that doesn’t need refrigeration.
Every Thursday afternoon, the nonperishable goods get bagged by eight to 10 volunteers at the Hemlock Street church, where the food is picked up the same day and distributed Friday to food-insecure elementary school children in Vacaville and Dixon.
Source: Bridging the hunger gap for local students – The Vacaville Reporter
State Superintendent Tony Thurmond today celebrated a significant milestone in California’s commitment to student health and safety with the passage of Assembly Bill (AB) 2316 (Gabriel) External link opens in new window or tab. by the California State Legislature.
Co-sponsored by Superintendent Thurmond, this legislation, effective December 31, 2027, will prohibit public schools from offering, selling, or otherwise providing food and beverages containing six potentially harmful substances. The bill now heads to the Governor’s desk to be signed into law.
Once the bill is signed, California public schools would be required to eliminate food and drinks that contain Blue 1, Blue 2, Green 3, Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6.These substances, often used as food dyes and additives, have raised health concerns and are being removed from school environments to safeguard students’ well-being.
Source: SPI Applauds Groundbreaking Nutrition Legislation – Year 2024 (CA Dept of Education)
By Richard Bammer
School’s out but child hunger is always in session.
Vacaville Unified’s Seamless Summer Food Program offers free nutritious breakfasts and lunches to all children 18 and younger, Mondays to Fridays through Aug. 9 at three sites across town. Note: There will be no service on Wednesday (Juneteenth) and July 4 (Independence Day).
Children must be present to receive meals. No application is necessary and no questions are asked.
Source: School’s out in Vacaville, but the summer food program is in – The Vacaville Reporter
Ten school nutrition assistant level staff members at Vacaville Unified School District, in Vacaville, Calif. are getting the chance to grow their skills through a year-long training course.
Named Lunch Thyme University, the training is being led by Chef and Assistant Director Richie Wilim, who was inspired to create the course after realizing that while school nutrition professionals are performing similar tasks and are held to the same standards as their peers in the restaurant industry, they often don’t receive the same training or opportunities to grow their skill set.
Source: New in-house training program gives Vacaville USD nutrition team a chance to grow their skills
By Nick McConnell
A food program hosted by the Fairfield Suisun Unified School District and The Father’s House Church is celebrating nine years of existence this year.
Bob Barnum of the church provides a truck full of fresh food items for the families at Davis Weir Preparatory Academy every Friday.
“Throughout these nine years, Bob Barnum has not only been a provider of sustenance but has also built strong connections with several families, staff members, and students at David Weir Preparatory Academy,” according to a release from FSUSD. “Many of them volunteer each week to support the distribution efforts and ensure the campus is cleaned up after the food delivery.”
Source: FSUSD, The Father’s House provide food to David Weir Preparatory Academy – The Vacaville Reporter
By Rebecca Wasik
School may be out of session, but the Vacaville Unified School District’s Student Nutrition Department still wants to be sure that all children are able to have satisfying meals that give them the energy they need to have a memorable summer.
Now through Aug. 15, children ages up to 18 can receive free breakfast and lunch from VUSD’s Summer Community Meals program. Children do not have to be enrolled in a district school in order to receive a meal. Breakfast and lunch are served free of charge every weekday, except on the Fourth of July.
Nico James-Singh and Jalia Her share a vision for their futures.
Each wants to make films – or a similar vocation – as their life’s work. They even teamed up to take second place in a recent video contest, which was good enough to move them onto the state competition.
They are members of the Multimedia Academy at Armijo High, with Her, a senior, serving as president. They also find themselves among 22 of their club mates and six other Armijo students in the first-year, after-school Healthy Food Program.
Source: Healthy Food curriculum takes Armijo students from garden to kitchen to video room
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond today joined U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack, California First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, West Contra Costa Unified School District (WCCUSD) leadership, and state and federal stakeholders on a visit to Betty Reid Soskin Middle School to hear more about the district’s innovative farm-to-school program.
Soskin Middle School serves 450 students—60 percent of whom are considered to be socioeconomically disadvantaged—and is the frontline of the vital work of feeding students healthy school meals through the California Universal Meals Program. The school is named after Betty Reid Soskin, a pioneering Bay Area civil rights activist and the nation’s oldest National Park Ranger, who was designated as an Ambassador to California Education by Thurmond in September 2021.
“As we celebrate National Nutrition Month and National School Breakfast Week, I take great pride in promoting the fact that California became the first state in the United States to implement a statewide universal meals program for all school-age children within the public education system. As a result, millions of children access two free healthy meals during each school day. And not only that, but we have also supported other states in following suit,” Superintendent Thurmond said. “The Universal Meals Program removes the stigma associated with free and reduced-price school meals and is a critical component in the framework for the Transforming California Schools Initiative designed to create one cohesive educational system with integrated, interdependent strategies.”
Source: Efforts to Support Student Access to Healthy Meals – Year 2023 (CA Dept of Education)
The California Department of Education (CDE) Nutrition Services Division is sending this message to announce the availability of School Year 2023–24 School Breakfast Program (SBP) and Summer Meal Programs (SMP) Start-up and Expansion Grants.
Background Information
The state Legislature appropriates approximately $1.017 million in the annual state budget for SBP and SMP Start-up and Expansion Grants. California Education Code Section 49550.3, authorizes the CDE to award competitive grants of up to $15,000 per school site for nonrecurring expenses incurred when initiating or expanding an SBP or SMP.
Source: 2023–24 School Breakfast Grants Are Now Available! – Nutrition (CA Dept of Education)
Commencing in school year 2022–23, CA Education Code (EC) Section 49501.5 required public school districts, county offices of education (COE), and charter schools serving students in kindergarten through grade 12 to provide a breakfast and lunch, free of charge, during each school day, regardless of a student’s eligibility for free or reduced-price meals. This is known as the state meal mandate and universal meals. The state meal mandate also applies to public school students in certified nonpublic schools (NPS). This is because the public school students attending the NPS remain under the jurisdiction of the public school district or COE, per EC Section 56365.
Eligible Local Educational Agencies (LEA), specifically public schools, COEs, and charters schools, can be eligible for state reimbursement for meals served to public school students attending an NPS. The NPS must be listed as a site under the sponsorship of the eligible LEA and be a participant in both the school breakfast and national school lunch programs. Please note that the NPS sites are not eligible for state reimbursement for meals served to nonpublic school students, and NPS sponsors are not eligible for state meal reimbursement.
Source: State Reimbursement for Nonpublic School Sites – Nutrition (CA Dept of Education)
By Susan Hiland
New law requires local food purchases starting in January 2024
Trustees in the Fairfield-Suisun School District heard a presentation Thursday about finances for the child nutrition programs – a presentation that looked ahead to how a new state law may change where and how the district purchases food.
The district’s nutritional programs include a Seamless Summer Feeding Program, and Community Eligibility Provision School Nutrition Programs which includes At-Risk After School Supper Program.
Source: Fairfield-Suisun school board reviews school nutrition programs
By Thomas Gase
It’s not hard to imagine: The person who finally cures cancer could be from Vallejo.
Or the person who rehabilitates you through a tough injury or conducts a successful surgery on your friend could be from Vallejo.
Now, more than ever, people are being sought for positions in the field of health care. On Tuesday and Wednesday representatives and workers from Kaiser Permanente partnered with schools in the Bay Area for Youth Career Day 2022 to let students know that job opportunities in the health care industry are there for them if they choose to pursue them.
Source: Vallejo students learn about healthy career choices – Times-Herald
On May 18, 2022, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved nine state specific waivers to provide flexibilities to California program operations during School Year (SY) 2022–23. Section 12(l) of the National School Lunch Act provides the authority to the USDA to issue these waivers.
While the goal of the Child Nutrition Programs for SY 2022–23 is to transition to traditional meal, snack, and milk service, the USDA recognizes that there may continue to be COVID-19 related impacts.
The waivers listed below provide flexibilities for occasions when Child Nutrition Program operations are experiencing COVID-related impacts in the following programs: the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), School Breakfast Program (SBP), Special Milk Program (SMP), and Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP), NSLP Seamless Summer Feeding Option (SSO), and the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP).
Source: Waivers Affecting School Year 2022–23 – Nutrition (CA Dept of Education)
The California Department of Education Nutrition Services Division commends schools across the state for providing excellent service and continuous access to school meals and snacks. Since the beginning of this pandemic, school food service professionals, school leaders, and staff have been on the frontlines providing nutritious meals that support not only students, but families and communities as well. We continue to feel immense gratitude and admiration for your dedication and resilience.
March is National Nutrition Month® (NNM®). This month is an outstanding time to celebrate and recognize both the importance of nutritious foods and the role that food service staff play in supporting student health, learning, and school meals (on or off-campus).
This year’s theme is Celebrate a World of Flavors. Understanding the multiplicity of cultures and celebrating flavors from around the world helps us to recognize and appreciate our diversity. The theme encourages us to be curious, enjoy our differences, and expand our palettes. In our school communities, we bring together many different backgrounds, cultural food habits, and taste preferences. During the month of March, I encourage you to Celebrate a World of Flavors, as well as the students, families and staff that enrich our collective experiences by sharing their food cultures with us.
Source: National Nutrition Month—March 2022 – Nutrition (CA Dept of Education)
By Richard Bammer
Suisun Valley K-8 School teacher Heather Merodio cut pieces of a broccoli flower, handing the knubby, green segments to her fifth-grade agri-science students, some 20 in all, seated on the edges of a rectangular wooden grow box inside the campus’ garden in rural Fairfield.
“It tastes raw,” student Myah Rodriguez told a visitor to the Lambert Road school on Friday.
“It tastes earthy,” classmate Jade Adams chimed in, with another classmate, Emmalyn Pearson, seated next to her, adding, “I think it’s fresh.”
Source: Where ‘farm-to-fork’ lessons are on the teaching menu – The Vacaville Reporter
By Nicole Langarica
The beginning of any school year can be a time of significant adjustment for students. Balancing club and sports schedules, building homecoming floats, and making sure the final touches of classroom assignments are completed before progress reports are examples of students’ daily tasks. One could easily argue that the first few months of a new school year are packed with plenty of activities to keep high school students busy. For some Armijo High School IB students, however, it is just the beginning.
The International Baccalaureate (IB) Program, hosted at Armijo High School, is a highly regarded internationally-minded program that promotes rigorous inquiry, critical thinking, and a strong sense of social justice and cultural awareness. Those wishing to enroll in the IB Program are required to complete an application, submit to placement tests, and abide by the program’s high expectations. Once enrolled in the program, students must maintain a grade point average of 2.75 or higher each semester while participating in sequential and rigorous coursework.
Source: Armijo Royals Volunteer and Help Local Food Bank Feed the Need
The Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District has appointed Monica Gonzalez as its child nutrition manager.
Gonzalez’s six years of experience with FSUSD’s Child Nutrition Department with growing responsibilities underscores her commitment to serving the students in the District, officials said in a press statement.
Gonzalez grew up in Fairfield. Her entire educational career took place in the district. She has been employed with FSUSD since 2015 and most recently served as a Bilingual Secretary III in the Child Nutrition Department.
Source: Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District appoints child nutrition manager – The Vacaville Reporter