A good breakfast and a balanced lunch coming to BPS

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) - A good breakfast and a balanced lunch can impact how kids learn and perform in school.

Bismarck Public Schools is finishing up their meal plans. They follow MyPlate nutrition standards from the USDA and have health requirements they meet for all meals. This school year, the kids are going to have some fun new options, and more kids will have free lunches.

Joan Knoll, a licensed registered dietitian for BPS, teaches kids about the nutrition they should be getting each day, like how much protein they need and how it fuels them.

“The importance of taking all five food groups that they can, because if they take all five food groups, it’s more likely that they’re gonna get their nutrient needs met for that meal,” said Knoll.

She says parents at home should try to follow the same guidelines, packing all the food groups with lots of fruits and veggies.

One favorite of the kids is the taco salad.

“Like our taco corn chips would be our whole grain. Oh yeah, that’s what we serve it with lettuce, tomato and then we have other vegetable options. We have fruit every day,” said Knoll.

All their meals are served with milk as a source of calcium.

A bill during the legislative session allows all students that used to get reduced lunch to be bumped up to free lunch and breakfast for two years.

“It’s the key as far as their overall learning and their energy, their mood. We don’t want any students to go without breakfast or lunch,” said Knoll.

Sourcing all the options can be hard for the district because of shortages.

“We are slowly but surely getting back to the things we would like to have, but it has still been pretty difficult,” said Knoll.

Some of the fun new options kids get to try this year are hummus and pita, and the schools are reintroducing macaroni and cheese that’s been reworked to meet the MyPlate standards.