Those in charge of feeding Minnesota students are prepping for a new school year that starts about a month from now.
In March, Governor Tim Walz signed into law a bill making breakfast and lunch free for all students at schools that participate in the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program.
Minnesota School Nutrition Association president Cheryl Pick says work is underway to ensure the program runs smoothly for districts.
"We still need to require our families to fill out the free meals applications because we do have to claim these meals a certain way, to receive the funding we need to make this work," says Pick.
More than 650 school nutrition professionals are in St. Cloud this week for the annual school nutrition association conference. This event gives attendees a chance to sample menu items and recipes ahead of the new school year.
"Being able to offer fresh fruits and vegetables to our students, offering scratch-cooking for our students and that could help us keep the cost down as well, if you have the staff to do it. And that's important," Pick explains.
Under the bill signed by Walz in March, the state will pay the gap between federal funding and the cost of school meals. It's expected to cost about $200-million annually to feed roughly 600,000 students.
Republican opponents of the bill had said families that can afford it should be paying for meals, and this is an unnecessary spend of tax dollars.
The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is a federally assisted meal program operating in public and nonprofit private schools and residential child care institutions. The program was established under the National School Lunch Act, signed by President Harry Truman in 1946.