School meals provide fresh food for thought across Dallas ISD

With a new school year on the horizon, Dallas ISD’s Food and Child Nutrition Services has been hard at work to find new ways to help fuel student success by offering breakfast, lunch and in some cases dinner at district schools.

For the third year, Dallas ISD will provide school meals at no charge to all district students. Families are not required to complete the free or reduce lunch application to receive free meals.

Breakfast in the Classroom is expected to expand to all Dallas ISD high schools by the end of the year. Unlike elementary and middle schools, where meals are delivered directly to classes, the morning food for high schoolers will be available in self-serve kiosks.

During lunches, new grab-and-go “Smart Boxes” will offer a variety of delicious offerings such as hummus, sandwiches, bistro salad samplers and wraps. New labels will be created for high school boxes that will feature calorie count, ingredients and top allergens to help students make the best choices for them. Packaging will be plant-based/compostable and be made of 50 percent recycled material.

Further, the district started phasing in the use of compostable, round plates near the end of last school year. Their use will help reduce landfill waste.

Besides serving healthy, nutritious meals during the school day, a goal is to encourage students to make healthier choices on their own. Initiatives include Harvest of the Month, which highlights a Texas-grown produce item and gives students the chance to taste it; and “Lean amp; Green Day,” which is designed to encourage students to replace meat with plant-based protein options one day a week.

Starting this school year, the MySchoolBucks! online payment system will replace MyPaymentsPlus to help manage what their children buy in the cafeteria. Because the system is a new one, parents will need to register for a free account at www.myschoolbucks.com.

School menus will be available online here.