“Break and Go: Looking for a product that you can serve to your hungry students as part of breakfast in the classroom?  E S Foods has expanded its line of grab ‘n’ go breakfast options with its new Protein Breakfast BREAKS. Each three-pack contains a protein, grain and 100% fruit juice. Blueberry yogurt, strawberry yogurt and a cheese pack are available as protein options, while granola or Rice Chex may be selected as the grain. Breakfast BREAKS are available in shelf-stable, refrigerated and thaw-and-serve formats.  Find out more by visiting www.esfoods.com or calling (516) 682-5494.

• Government initiatives:  According to a news release issued by USDA to celebrate National School Breakfast Week,  “Participation in the School Breakfast Program is an important vehicle to meet the nutritional needs of children,” said Kevin Concannon, USDA Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services. “Thanks to the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act signed into law by President Obama, we will be able to enroll many more children in our school feeding programs and greatly improve the quality of meals served in schools.”  And, one year ago, First Lady Michelle Obama unveiled the comprehensive Let’s Move campaign to fight childhood obesity.  Research shows that kids who eat breakfast have overall better health and less weight problems.
• Last month, the got breakfast? Foundation, awarded 7 school districts with Silent Hero Grants to implement classroom breakfast programs.  We will spotlight some of these winners in future blog posts.
• School Nutrition Association:  In addition to the many resources SNA offers on their website, they have just issued a new Growing School Breakfast Participation Report titled “New Ways o Deliver Breakfast to Students On-the-Go.” The report, which is based on an online survey of nearly 4,000 school nutrition directors, states, “On-the-go breakfast is a proven way of increasing school breakfast participation. The report highlights the characteristics, logistics, and keys to success for on-the-go school breakfast options to middle and high schools.” You can download the 14-page report at www.schoolnutrition.org/growingbreakfast
• Kellogg’s has partnered with Action for Healthy Kids® to launch the Share Your Breakfast program to encourage Americans to help children who might otherwise go without.  The goal is to help share one million breakfasts during the 2011-2012 school year.

We couldn’t agree more about the potential of on-the-go breakfasts.  At E S Foods, we continue to focus on our message to schools to include classroom breakfasts and alternate site breakfasts that go beyond the cafeteria.  Today, E S Foods CEO Gary Davis issued the following open letter  in response to Kellogg’s Share Your Breakfast program:

 We applaud Kellogg’s commitment to donate 1 million breakfasts over the next school year.   Daily some 10 million in need children are not being fed a breakfast each school day. Their generous donation certainly addresses this unnecessary and unacceptable fate that our society has been needlessly mute to.

 We at E S Foods have been proactive in addressing this by launching convenient mobile breakfast packaging with Breakfast Breaks and by sponsoring the “got breakfast?” foundation whose primary existence is based upon promoting greater child participation in school breakfast and fuller utilization of federal nutrition funding.

 We have funded several hundred thousand dollars in promoting school breakfast and classroom grants. Today much focus has been placed upon balanced nutrition, which we support.  However, the priority must be to first feed the hungry, those in need—the 1 in 4 – that have been neglected!  Let’s work together and make this happen for our nation’s children. 

Gary A. Davis, CEO, E S Foods

But the support and awareness is growing!  At E S Foods, we are expanding our message to include classroom breakfasts and alternate site breakfasts that go beyond the cafeteria.  According to the Food Research and Action Center’s (FRAC) School Breakfast Scorecard for 2008-2009, districts using breakfast in the classroom have the highest participation rates.  Here’s some promising news:

• School districts including Newark, N.J., Worcester, Mass., Clint, Texas, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, have increased breakfast participation from 20% to over 80% simply by classroom and second chance breakfast programs.
• Last month, the got breakfast? Foundation, awarded 8 school districts with Silent Hero Grants to implement classroomm breakfast programs.  We will spotlight some of these winners in future blog posts. Check out this great “Breakfast in the Classroom” video from one of the winners, the San Diego Unified School District.
• First Lady Michelle Obama recently unveiled the comprehensive Let’s Move campaign to fight childhood obesity.  Last week she addressed attendees at the School Nutrition Association’s annual Legislative Action Conference, where she called upon school foodservice directors to do their part and to offer her gratitude and support. One of the best ways to address the childhood obesity issue is with school breakfast.  Research shows that kids who eat breakfast have overall better health and less weight problems.

With efforts made from the individual school foodservice director who decides to give school breakfast a try, to a nationwide campaign to fight childhood obesity, 2010 is the time to bring the School Breakfast Program to the front of the line!