How School Breakfast Program Benefits Students In Iron County

As schools across the country mark National School Breakfast Week, the focus in Iron County is on more than just a quick bite before class. During a recent appearance on the Big Picture Morning Show on KSUB radio, Gina DeLange, Nutrition Director for the Iron County School District, and Mindy Shearer, Nutrition Coordinator, outlined how the local program feeds both bodies and minds.

Shearer - DeLange in studio - Dr.T/Canva Design

“In 1975, Congress made the school breakfast program permanent nationwide,” DeLange said during the broadcast. Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture program serves approximately 15.4 million children daily across the country. In Iron County, just under 10,000 students are served each day, with about 1,200 participating in breakfast and roughly 4,500 in lunch.

Breakfast Is Available To every Iron County School District Student

Breakfast is available to every student in the district. “It’s available to every student,” DeLange said. While many families choose to eat at home, others gather in school cafeterias not only for food but for connection. “They gather a lot. So it’s very important. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.”

CDC via Unspalsh

Behind the scenes, the morning starts early. Shearer noted that when she managed a kitchen, she arrived at 5 a.m. to begin preparations. “When you’re serving 140 to 160 kids at breakfast time, there’s a lot of prep that goes into that,” she said. Meals go far beyond cereal. “We make sure that they have a well-balanced meal. Half the plate is still, you know, fresh vegetable or fruit on that plate, and then a grain, and then milk and juice is also offered.”

The benefits extend into the classroom. “If your belly’s hungry, you’re focused on that belly. You’re not focused on what the teacher’s teaching,” DeLange said, adding that a healthy breakfast can reduce irritability and improve focus and memory.

All 17 schools in the district are covered, including smaller sites supplied through transported meals. The federally funded program follows strict USDA guidelines, with additional sodium reductions and limits on added sugars coming soon. Artificial dyes are also being phased out.

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Shearer said participation is always a goal. “We don’t want them to go hungry. Some of them show up and they’ve gone all night and maybe didn’t have dinner the night before. So breakfast is huge for them.”