The provision of nutritious meals before and during school hours represents the kind of non-academic intervention that is warranted as educators and policymakers continue to devise comprehensive solutions to the challenges and obstacles that are hindering the academic progress of targeted groups of students. Beyond the curriculum and pedagogical issues facing schools and teachers are the real life circumstantial difficulties that characterize the home environment for too many young people. The effects of proper nutrition or the lack thereof on student academic readiness and even school attendance are real and substantive. Without having to perform any level of scientific research, we can be certain that no child can learn or be interested in learning on an empty stomach. School administrators and classroom teachers know all too well how some school children enter their classrooms and schoolhouses daily without having had a breakfast meal either prepared for them or available in the home. The reality is that many families rely on the school lunch program and the addition of school breakfast in some districts to feed their children while away from home. Thankfully, our policymakers have been willing to fund these nutrition programs in schools which desperately need them.

As school nutritionists plan their meals, the hope is that they don’t take the easy way out by serving students foods which reinforce the bad eating habits that are plaguing our youth today and leading to unprecedented levels of child obesity. What we are witnessing are partnerships among schools, food and beverage companies, and public health advocates to provide students with food and snack choices that are at once nutritious and fun for them. While we don’t want to take candies, cookies, and potato chips away from them completely, we do want to minimize their sugar and sodium intake for their own good. The proliferation of junk foods, sodas, packaged goodies, and processed meals make the school nutritionist’s job so much harder because the ready-to-eat culture already defines dinnertime in a lot of homes. If families are relying heavily on pre-cooked and microwaveable meals already, then school cafeterias will continue to have a difficult task of breaking through this culture that seems to be dependent on ready-made food.

An elementary student who eats breakfast at her school on most mornings recently shared with me how she felt sick one morning after eating what had been served to her for breakfast at school -- she had been given a prepackaged sausage biscuit. My immediate thought was perhaps she had eaten an item whose expiration date had passed. Even so, I was troubled because I could not imagine that a school cafeteria would serve its students expired food items or would not be diligent in disposing of bad food. Schools can avoid the possibility that children might get sick from old food by serving them things like a piece of fruit, bagel, muffin, toast, or cereal. Not only are these choices healthier, but they stand a better chance of preserving their freshness and nutritious value. Reinforcing the goals of school meals and nutrition programs demands that food service personnel take intentional steps to offer meals that give students a healthy dose of those nutrients that will improve their attentiveness and energy level, while also providing the sustenance needed to remain alert and productive throughout the school day.