FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 13, 2020
Governor Whitmer Proclaims Oct. 12-16
Michigan School Lunch Week
LANSING – School lunches, whether provided in school or to families of children learning at a distance during the pandemic, are important components to ensure healthy children. Governor Gretchen Whitmer declared the week of October 12-16, 2020 as Michigan School Lunch Week.
“No parent should have to worry about how to put food on the table for their children. The National School Lunch Program has helped provide food to Michigan families for more than 70 years,” Gov. Whitmer said. “Federal waivers to provide flexibility in the delivery of school lunches have helped our state continue to provide food for children during the COVID-19 pandemic, so all students can eat free this fall. School Lunch Week will serve as a reminder for all of us to give thanks and underscore the importance of schools meals for students and their families.”
To support schools and families when the COVID-19 pandemic first hit Michigan in mid-March, Michigan was granted waivers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in March and again in late August that permitted:
- Parents to pick up food for their children outside of school
- Schools to provide meals for 7 rather than 5 days a week
- Parents to pick up meals at a single school for children in more than one school
- Schools to provide free meals for children at all schools
State Superintendent Dr. Michael Rice said this proclamation shines the spotlight on the positive impact nutritious school lunches have on children’s education, development, health, and well-being; and the dedicated people who work hard every day to plan, prepare, and deliver these meals to children.
“We have served a nearly100 million meals to kids in Michigan since the pandemic first hit Michigan in mid-March,” Dr. Rice said. “The federal waivers have just been extended through the rest of the school year so children will not lack the essential nutrition to be healthy. Celebrating school lunch week promotes nutrition education and the awareness of the value school nutrition programs have on the whole child.”
National School Lunch Week (NSLW), which for the past 30 years has commemorated the National School Lunch Program created by President John F. Kennedy in 1962, now serves nearly 30 million children every school day.
To view the proclamation, click the link below:
|
|
