The BreakfastFirst: Healthy Food for Hungry Minds Campaign has identified three goals for our work. Here’s a brief description of each goal, why it’s important and how we hope to achieve it.

Goal 1:  Every California public school offers the School Breakfast Program.

California law (Ed. Code §49550) requires all public schools to serve at least one nutritious meal each day, with “nutritious” defined as meeting the federal school meal requirements. Nearly every school fulfills this law by serving the National School Lunch Program. However, only 6,491 out of 7,716 schools also serve the School Breakfast Program, leaving more than 147,000 low-income children without access to this nutrition support. For all families, the rising obesity epidemic, hectic mornings, long school commutes and bellies that are not ready for breakfast right away make breakfast at school a valuable resource. For low-income children whose families may not be able to afford a daily, healthy breakfast, the meal’s availability at school takes on special importance. BreakfastFirst strategies to bring school breakfast to every school include exploring an expansion of the state meal mandate, engaging parents and other partners to create public pressure for universal access to school breakfast and providing technical assistance.

Goal 2:  All California students participate in the School Breakfast Program.

Despite research showing that school breakfast is good for kids’ health and academic performance, few students are actually eating the meal. In California, only 16% of all students and 40% of low-income students enrolled in school lunch participate in school breakfast. Where and when breakfast is served, as well as the fear of being stigmatized, has a major impact on participation. No child should lose out on breakfast because her bus arrives too soon to the start of school or because the cafeteria is too small or too “uncool.” Research from California and other states confirms that participation goes up when breakfast is served in the classroom (eliminating stigma and the need to arrive early at school) or during a “nutrition break” later in the morning and experience shows that improving the meal’s appeal has the same result. BreakfastFirst strategies to improve participation include promoting the use of the various breakfast service models (link) and enlisting students and parents to collaborate with school food directors to improve school breakfast quality—nutrition, appeal and customer service.

Goal 3:  Every school breakfast promotes health and appeals to students.

School breakfast is fuel for learning and growth. Research shows that USDA standards have led school breakfasts to outperform other sources of kids’ nutrition: kids who eat school breakfast consume more fruits, vegetables and calcium than those who don’t. Yet USDA’s baseline standards don’t address some issues that are important to kids’ health—such as the amount of sugar, fiber and trans fats in the meal. And the standards don’t say anything about how the meals should look, smell and taste. The result is low participation, which translates into missed opportunities to provide students with nutrition and academic benefits. BreakfastFirst strategies to improve school breakfast quality will include establishing stronger standards for school breakfast nutrition, promoting customer input into menus and disseminating best breakfast practices.