The School Breakfast Program (SBP) originally began as a two-year pilot project in 1966 which was 20 years after the start of the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). The SBP was designed to provide grants to assist schools serving breakfast to “nutritionally needy” children. The schools that were located in poor areas or where children had to travel a great distance to school were termed “nutritionally needy.” During the first year, approximately 80,000 children were served. Over the next couple of years, the pilot program was extended several times until 1975 when Congress declared its intent that the program be made available in all schools where it was needed to provide adequate nutrition for children in attendance.

In recent years, there has been a tremendous amount of research done on breakfast and its association on student performance. In one report published by Food Research and Action Center (FRAC), researchers found that skipping breakfast and experiencing hunger impairs a child’s ability to learn. Children experiencing hunger have lower math scores and are more likely to repeat a grade. Behavioral, emotional, and academic problems are also more prevalent among children with hunger.

Student performance is also affected by food insecurity issues. Approximately 24% of children in Palm Beach County are food insecure, meaning that over 64,000 children go to bed hungry. Over 57% of the families that the School Food Service (SFS) Department serves qualify for free and reduced price meals. The School District of Palm Beach County offers breakfast to all students enrolled in District schools at no cost to the student. The SFS Department is proud to be able to offer this important service to the students and families in Palm Beach County. Offering a nutritious breakfast at no cost to students is one way that the SFS Department is making a difference. The Department believes that students need to be eating breakfast so they can perform better at school and that breakfast is a valuable component in the path to improve academics.

Below are the required components that must be offered to the students as part of their breakfast meal:

Following offer vs. serve, students are required to select three or four of the above food components to create a complete reimbursable meal. Since the implementation of the United States Department of Agriculture Nutrition Standards, school meals have improved to include the offering of more whole grain rich options, more fruit and vegetable selections, and more low-fat and fat-free dairy choices.

* Knowing that new legislation would require students to select a fruit component with breakfast beginning in the 2014-2015 school year, the SFS Department implemented the fruit requirement in the 2012-2013 school year.